Waste Side Story
by Shaykin
Summary: The Lone Wanderer and his adventure through the Wastes. An original story line. If you read and enjoy, please review or send me a PM. I love hearing from you guys. Any suggestions, hints, tips, or critiques are welcomed with open arms.
1. Into The Open

His heartbeat hastened as he stepped on into fresh air for the first time in his life. His right hand was formed in a death grip over the 10mm pistol Amata had given him as his left hand shielded the sun from his eyes. It was bright, brighter than he had ever imagined it would be. Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he stepped forward towards the edge of the cliff, and his eyes caught sight of a sign reading Scenic Overlook, and decided to check it out. He scrambled up over rocks and in less than a minute, he found himself looking out over the Wasteland.

It was beautiful, in a destructive sort of way. At least it was compared to the confines of the Vault. The air seemed thicker however, and breathing made him feel sick though he just chalked it up to never breathing it before. As far as his eyes could see, he saw ruins of what must have once been glorious buildings, and he imagined in his minds eye buildings that touched the sky. _I think I could like this place._

He saw a village not too far ahead and decided that this would be his first step. He stepped slowly and carefully down the cliff, nearly falling twice. Once he reached the bottom he looked up at the climb he had just done, and his chest swelled with a small sense of achievement. _This could be easier than I thought._

He arrived at the village shortly later, but every house was boarded up as far as he could tell. He holstered his pistol and sat on a low wall in front of one of these abandoned houses. Running his hands through his black hair he exhaled sharply. _Why would Dad leave without telling me? _His stomach began to growl and he placed a hand on it. _Shit, I'm hungry._ He looked left and right down the barren and desolate road.

_Where the hell am I going to find food in a place like this?_ _Sure, the Vault was filled with assholes, but at least there was never a worry for food. Dammit Dad! _He punched his hand into his fist. _I've got to find some food._ He made a choice to continue down the road, deeper into the seemingly empty village. House after house he found the doors and windows nailed shut, and he soon found his mind wandering to days gone by.

It was the day of the G.O.A.T. and he had just left his Dad's office, having unsuccessfully played sick. He dragged his feet, looking up at the artificial lighting in the Vault. _Maybe I just won't go. I mean, it's not like it matters. We live and die in this Vault, who cares what I do for a living._ His thoughts were cut short by voices drifting down the hall and he recognized it as that stupid gang The Tunnel Snakes and a girl. _Amata?_ He quickened his pace and the four people came into his view.

"Just leave me alone, Butch," Amata sounded on the verge of tears.

"I don't think so, you sniveling little bitch," Butch laughed wickedly.

"Hey Butch, why don't you just fuck off," He found himself shouting.

Paul stepped in front of him, blocking his path to Butch.

"This is Tunnel Snake business," Paul said, "So just mind your own, punk." In what seemed like under a second, he had pushed Paul into Wally knocking them both over and had landed a wild haymaker to the side of Butch's head.

"Run Amata!" he shouted. Arms grabbed him from behind and threw him to the floor, and Paul and Wally began to stomp on him. Before he knew it, Butch was crouched overtop of him, dangling a switchblade in front of his face.

"I'm gonna cut you so fucking bad your own _daddy_ won't recognize you," Butch spat in his face. Paul and Wally laughed.

"Whatever Butch, you and your gang are nothing but a bunch of bitches," he laughed and Butch's face lowered to his.

"Let's see if you're so tough after your bleeding on the floor," Butch smiled. There was a sickening crunch as his forehead connected with the bridge of Butch's nose. He rose quickly, catching Paul by surprise with a knee to the stomach and swung wildly at Wally.

"Aiden!" His hand stopped mid-swing at the sound of his name. Wally used this to his advantage and punched him in the face so hard his head smashed into the floor with a crash.

He awoke hours later in the medical wing, his body aching and his face bloody from his encounter with The Tunnel Snakes. He felt arms around him helping him up and he looked over and saw Amata, whose eyes were all red and puffy.

"How are you feeling?" she asked weakly.

"Like Andy went to town on my body," he put his head in his hands and shook his head slowly, "What the hell happened?"

"Butch and the rest of the Snakes were bullying me, and you came running in and told me to run. I ran straight to the classroom and got Mr. Brotch. When we both arrived, we saw Paul throwing up and Butch was holding his nose lying on the floor. You were about to hit Wally when Mr. Brotch called your name and you stopped. Wally hit you in the face harder than I've ever seen him hit anyone before, even harder than the time they put Freddie in the hospital," her eyes began to water again, "What were you thinking?! They could have killed you."

"Better me than you," he said without looking up, "You'll probably be the next Overseer and I'll end up mopping floors." She grabbed his hand in both of hers and he felt his heart race.

"Aiden, I know you'll be so much more than that," he looked up and saw Amata smiling, "Just don't throw your life away like that."

He was brought back to the present by movement out of the corner of his eye, and he saw a door that wasn't boarded shut. He drew his pistol and opened the door slowly. It was dark, and as his eyes adjusted he felt something cold and steel pressed against his temple.


	2. Ending New Friendships

"Drop the gun, sugar, and you might be able to keep your brains," a rough, womanly voice said. He dropped the gun and put his arms up slowly.

"I don't want any trouble," his voice trembled, "I was just looking for some food."

"Those are some strange clothes you've got there," the voice said, "Where are you from?"

"I just came from the Vault up the hill, I had no choice but to leave, they were going to kill me," He shut his eyes. _Please don't shoot. Please._

"How old are you, kid," she said, lowering the gun.

"I just turned nineteen a week ago," he breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at the woman. She was attractive, but older.

"Come sit down, I was about to eat," she pointed at a chair at the table.

"Thank you, ma'am," he smiled and sat down. Moments later, she sat across from him and handed him a bowl of some sort of stew. He picked up a spoonful and took a bite. He instantly felt sick to his stomach.

"What is this?" He gagged, putting a hand in front of his mouth.

"Squirrel stew, my cooking not good enough for you?" She raised her eyebrows.

"No, it tastes fine… I just suddenly felt sick, like the flu hit me or something."

"What's your name, kid?"

"Aiden ma'am."

"My name's Silver, and that would be the radiation, Aiden," he looked down and saw she had finished hers already, "You'll get used to it."

"I should have known, I learned about it in the Vault," he said. He took a deep breath and finished his stew quickly but with great difficulty. The world instantly began to turn and he shut his eyes tight. _Fuck, I'm gonna throw up. _The world just kept spinning and spinning faster and faster until it turned to black.

He awoke to the sound of gunshots, and he sprang out of the bed he was lying in. He heard a woman begging and a man laughing wickedly. Catching a glint of steel, he grabbed a knife off the counter and crouched down in the dark space between the counter and wall. Seconds later he saw a woman getting dragged in the room by a ragged looking man. _Shit, Silver. Who the hell is this guy?_ The man laughed again at her begging.

"I'm gonna fuck you and then I'm gonna kill you," He laughed nastily again. The man threw Silver on the bed and made a move towards his belt. Aiden took a deep breath. _I've got to do something._ He shut his eyes for a moment. _Give me strength._ He jumped up from his hiding place and cleared the distance in a second. He heard the blade going into the man's flesh, once, twice, ten times, twenty times. The man screamed bloody murder and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

He backed up into a wall and felt himself sliding down it. He looked down and saw blood all over him, blood that wasn't his. _Holy shit I killed him I fucking killed him. Oh fuck._ He lowered his head to his knees and wrapped his hands around the back of his head. _Oh shit. Dad, I killed someone. What am I gonna do? Where the hell are you Dad?_

"Get up kid, we have to go there'll be more of them," Silver shook him. He looked up and saw her go to a cupboard and pull out a needle. She stuck it in her leg, which he noticed had a bullet wound. She winced and grabbed an assault rifle off the corpse.

"Who was that Silver," his eyes couldn't leave the corpse.

"That was a raider, a sick sadistic son of a bitch. If you see one of them it's better to shoot first or run away," she handed him his pistol back. "Look sugar we need to go now, I'll take you to Megaton, and then I'm gonna try to make it to Rivet City."

"Why don't you just come to Megaton with me?"

"Not now, we have to go," Silver picked up a bag from the floor, and began to limp to the door. Aiden jumped up and wrapped her shoulder around his. She smiled weakly at him, and they hurried out the back door just in time as the house went up in flames. A raider with a flamer came around the corner.

"More piggies for the barbeque!" He laughed maniacally and let out a fresh burst of flames aimed right at Aiden. Silver pushed both of them to the ground and Aiden could feel the back of his clothes catch fire. He rolled onto his back hoping to extinguish the flame and at the same time lining up a shot with his pistol. His finger pulled the trigger 'til the gun screamed empty and when the smoke cleared the raider was standing quite still, the ghost of a smile on his face. _What the hell? How is he still standing? _Aiden threw his gun at the raider hoping to buy some time but when the gun ricocheted off the raider, his legs just buckled and he fell over.

"Holy shit, we made it," he laughed. "Silver we made it!" He looked over at her grinning and he saw half her body charred black, her one visible eye rolled into the back of her head. His immediate response was to throw up, and much to his dismay, he found most of it landed on Silver. He heard more voices carrying through the night air, and with tears in his eyes he quickly grabbed the bag of supplies she had and the assault rifle. With one last look back at the woman who had tried to help him, he began a full out sprint into the darkness.


	3. Entering Megaton

"Welcome to Megaton, don't worry the bomb is completely safe," a robotic voice rang out to him and he looked up. He had been wandering all night, and the first rays of dawn were beginning to show over the horizon. He was either so tired he was hallucinating or he actually had the good fortunes that he made it to some settlement. He stumbled up to the robot.

"Is there a place to get a drink in this… place," his voice, cracking from the lack of moisture, sounded as weary as his body felt.

"Indeed, go to Moriarty's Saloon for the coldest drinks in town," the monotonous tone dictated like some shameless billboard.

"Thanks… cowbot," he chuckled dryly and walked through the doors to Megaton. He ducked into a back alley and opened up the pack that Silver was carrying. _Chems. Psycho. Med-X. Stimpacks. She was a fucking junkie. Is this all she has in here?_

He dumped the bag out and began kicking through the pile of drugs. His eyes caught on something steel and he reached down to pick it up. _A switchblade. This could come in handy. _He pocketed the blade and picked up all the chems, putting the Med-X and stimpacks in his bag and the psycho back into Silvers bag. He opened up the front pouch and found four hundred bottle caps, which he put into his pack.

He walked back onto the main road and began the descent down to what looked like an atomic bomb.

"Hey traveler, come listen to the word of Atom," a man standing in the water at the base of the bomb called over to him.

"Who the hell is Adam," Aiden asked.

"Ah an unlightened one," the man's eyes twinkled.

"Leave him alone Cromwell," a woman called out to him, "Can't you see he looks close to collapsing." Aiden looked to his left and saw a woman behind a stand, leaning forward on the counter.

"This is none of your business Jenny," Cromwell called back, "I'm sure our friend here would like to know about the glory of Atom."

"No, thanks, Cromwell was it? Jenny here is right, I had a rough night, so I would kindly ask you to please leave me alone," Aiden wearily said, and immediately took a seat at the counter.

"Can I get you something hun?" Jenny's voice dripped with sympathy.

"I just need a--- a drink… and maybe some f-food," he raspily replied, attempting to talk over a coughing fit.

"Anything specific?" She asked as she walked over to the fridge.

"No, just anything, please," he lay his head down on the counter. _Dad was right. The Vault was the safest place for me. Shit Dad, why did you have to leave? _He felt his eyes drift shut and the world slipped away.

His hands fumbled with the lock to the cabinet. He knew he didn't have long for his dad would be back soon. He smiled as he heard the familiar click of a successful lock pick. He grabbed a couple of Med-X and hastily locked the door again and quickly, but quietly, ran out of his dad's office. In a matter of minutes, he was lying on his bed breathing heavily having just locked his door behind him.

He inhaled sharply as the needle broke his skin and he instantly felt the effect as his thumb pushed the plunger down. He could feel everything begin to atrophy and his eyes glazed over. After what seemed like an eternity, a girls hand gently shook him, drawing his attention to her.

"Go away Amata, I don't want you to see me like this…" He mumbled.

"Who is Amata?" A voice that wasn't Amata's rang out. Aiden's head snapped up and he saw Jenny looking at him puzzled, a plate of food in her left hand and a beer in the right. _I was asleep… Well. Shit. I probably look stupid now._

"It's no one," he said as she laid the items in front of him, "Thank you… for the food."

"No problem hun, but that'll be twenty caps," she said reaching out her hand.

"Pardon me?" He felt his face screw up into a quizzical look, though his expression was nothing compared to hers. She looked as if she was looking at something frightening, yet humorous.

"Twenty caps. Bottle caps? You know, payment?"

"Oh. OH! Shit, sorry," he dug into his pack and pulled out thirty caps and handed them over, "Here, a little something extra for your trouble."

"Thanks sweetie you're too kind," she chuckled.

"So bottle caps are money," he asked, "is there a store where I could pawn off some of my junk somewhere?"

"You could try Moira's Craterside Supply, head up that ramp over there," she pointed, "right past the clinic."

"Thank you," he smiled and got up and walked up to Moira's. When he entered Moira was sleeping the floor, but she looked up and smiled.

"Well if it isn't a new face," she smiled, "we seem to get a lot of visitors to Megaton."

"I see. I have some things I want to sell." He said as he passed Silver's bag across the table, holding on a little too tightly as Moira grasped it. He willed his fingers to let go, and, as he did, he felt hollow and sick inside his chest as he remembered the gruesome sight of Silver.

"I'll give you 123 caps," she said after a minute or two.

"Could I have some ammo instead?" he asked, as he suddenly remembered the assault rifle slung across his back. He withdrew it, and noticed it was in really shitty condition, "Also, is there anyway to repair this?"

"Oh sure, silly, just hand that over here and we'll trade ammo and this repair service for your chems," she smiled again.

"That would be great, thank you," he said as he looked around the store. He saw a random assortment of junk and weapons, until he laid eyes upon, hanging on the wall behind Moira, a Vault 101 jumpsuit with armor on it.

"Where did you get that?!" He suddenly shouted, his heartbeat racing.

"Oh geez. Some nice lady from the Vault up the hill came here and I told her how dangerous the wasteland was and she paid me to modify that jumpsuit. I never saw her again, the poor dearie," she slid the assault rifle to him, "I'll make you a deal for it if you like."

"What are you thinking?" He asked as he inspected the rifle, it definitely looked a lot better, though he was no expert on weapons.

"Well I have always wanted to write a Wasteland Survival Guide, and I needed a partner to go out and research for me," she smiled at him, "I will pay you of course and your name will be on the book."

"Well, no promises but I will help you as much as I can," he slung the AR over his back, "Just give me that armor."

He left the store moments later and put on his new armor, and pulled out a piece of paper from the pocket. _Hmm. A list of what she wants done. Mines, food, medicine, mole rats, mirelurks? What the fuck? Radiation poisoning? This girl is fucking crazy._ He folded the paper and put it back in his pocket. He stretched and looked up at the sky, though he stopped when he noticed a sign. _Moriarty's Saloon. I guess I'll go check that out. _


	4. Meeting New People and Losing The Game

He entered the Saloon, which was deadly quiet. There were a few stragglers hanging around the bar, but it was mostly empty. He took a seat at the bar next to a pretty young woman with her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. Somewhere in the corner a patron played a mournful tune of loss on his harmonica.

"Happy bunch here," he muttered under his breath. The woman beside him laughed and looked over at him.

"If that guy on the harmonica doesn't shut up I'm gonna shove it down his throat," she leaned in and whispered to him.

"If he doesn't shut up I'm gonna shove my fist down his throat," he whispered back. The woman laughed again and held her hand out.

"Lucy West, I live here in Megaton," Lucy said.

"Aiden, I don't live anywhere," he replied taking her hand in his.

"Your funny, what are you doing here in Megaton?" she asked.

_I don't have a fucking clue. The first person to show me kindness out here got burnt to a fucking crisp by raiders. It's only luck I found this place. I am so lost and have no way of finding my dad._

"Something to do? I don't know. Honestly, my dad is somewhere out in the Wastes," he sighed looking into her brown eyes, "and I have no fucking clue how I'm going to find him."

"That's so sad, I stopped hearing from my family and I'm really worried. They always used to reply to my letters but now I haven't heard from them in a while," she said looking down at her plate.

"Where are your parents," he asked earnestly, "don't they live here with you?"

"No," she laughed a little, "I originally lived in Arefu, a settlement to the north, but I moved here a while ago."

"Ah, well if you want I can go there and rain down an unholy firestorm on their door," he winked. She laughed again, longer this time.

"No thank you, I couldn't ask you to," she said, still smiling.

"I don't have a place to stay, so I'll do this for you and maybe I could stay at your house for a while. I'll pay you. I don't expect to stay for free," he offered.

"I swear I won't touch you while you sleep or anything weird like that," he added with a wink, smiling.

"If you go all the way to Arefu, I could never ask you to pay," she replied, and upon seeing the hesitation on his face she added, "I would be insulted if you refused my offer."

"Well if I must," he held out his hand again, "so deal?"

"It's a deal," she took his hand, "Let me show you around town."

"Anything to get away from this guy," he jabbed his thumb over at the guy with the harmonica, who had descended into tears while his friend yelled drunkenly at him. She laughed again and grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the bar.

The sunlight again hit his eyes like a bullet to both irises and he found himself squinting in the brightness. Lucy was not relenting though, and he soon found himself standing at a rail looking over Megaton, or so he soon discovered once his vision was back. He looked over at Lucy who was energetically pointing at places and describing the people who lived there and what the purpose of some places were such as the clinic.

"…And that is where I live," she pointed to a building below and to the right. She took a deep breath and, with a red face, looked at Aiden, who was laughing.

"Don't kill yourself next time and take a breath sometime, you know, before you pass out," he laughed again, "and I know what a Clinic and Armory are by the way. I'm not THAT stupid."

"Eh, you never know with you Wasteland types," she said, grabbing his arm again and dragging him down a ramp to the right.

"You can't tell me there are still buildings to point out, I don't think your lungs can take it," he said struggling not to fall over.

"No, smartass, now we have to meet the townsfolk," she replied, "and here's the most important one, Lucas Simms!" She yelled out the name, and several yards ahead of them an African-American man in a duster and sheriff hat turned around.

"Lucy," he said walking up to them, "how are you? Is this your boyfriend?"

"No," she replied, her face burning red, "this is Aiden, I just met him. He is going to Arefu to check on my family, so I offered him a place to stay and am now giving him the full tour of our stunning town. Of course, no tour is complete without being introduced to the most important man in town."

"You're too kind," Lucas laughed, "Nice to meet you Aiden, I'm Lucas Simms incase you missed it." He held out his hand to Aiden.

"Nice to meet you too," he shook Lucas' hand, "so your like the sheriff here?"

"He's the best thing to happen to this town ever," Lucy interjected.

"Oh please," he chuckled modestly, "I try to keep the town in order. I play the mayor and sheriff in town here."

"We have to go now, there's SO many people to meet," she laughed.

"Sure. Can I talk to your friend here a moment in private though?" Lucas asked her.

"Well, that's up to him," she said looking at Aiden.

"I'll hear what he has to say," he replied, "I'll be right with you, Lucy."

"Suit yourself," she said in a sing song voice and walked further down the ramp.

Aiden leaned up against a railing and Lucas stood with his arms crossed, both waiting for Lucy to be out of earshot.

"So, Aiden," Lucas said finally when she had gone a sufficient distance, "What are you doing here in Megaton?"

"I ended up here by accident. I used to live in the Vault, but one day my dad just up and leaves. The Overseer decided I knew something about it and authorized the security force to bring me in by any means necessary. I snuck by them, just barely though, and I left the Vault too. I'm looking for him now," Aiden sighed as he lived through the memories again.

"Vault 101? There was a man who came through here recently from the Vault," Lucas said, staring at the ground thinking intently.

"What!? Are you serious? When?" He asked standing up straight.

"Very recently, I'll try to find out more for you," Lucas said rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Now about Lucy…" They both looked over at her.

"What about her?" He said glancing over at the sheriff

"She's a good girl, probably one of the nicest in Megaton," Lucas said not taking his eyes off her," it breaks my heart to think her family isn't replying to her."

"She's enthusiastic about everything I'll give you that," Aiden said, watching Lucy energetically talk to someone, utilizing many hand gestures.

"I want to help you help her," Lucas said looking over at him, "Swing by my house later, I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks," Aiden said, slapping him on the back, "I should go though, I don't want her to wind herself."

"Of course," Lucas said smiling, and he tipped his hat to him, "See you around." Aiden walked down the ramp and took a seat at an abandoned table on a platform near Lucy.

"…and now I'm giving him a tour. You know, introducing him to people," Lucy finished.

"So that's him," the man pointed behind Lucy at Aiden. She turned to look and smiled and clapped her hands.

"Yup that's him," she said, "Aiden, come here."

"This is Bishop," she said, indicating the man she had been talking to, "He invited us to come play a game of baseball."

"So lets play," he said, shaking Bishop's hand, "you live here, too?"

"Sort of, I live in the commons house," Bishop said jabbing his thumb backwards to the building.

"That's where people live when they don't own a house here yet," Lucy explained to him, "A bunch of people all live there."

"It's cramped," Bishop said as they began their ascent to leave Megaton, "but atleast it's a place to stay. I work at the Clinic to save up enough money for a place of my own."

"You want to be a doctor?" Aiden asked.

"I like helping people," he shrugged, "I'll do whatever I can."

Moments later, the trio found themselves outside where two teams of people had already set up a diamond, right in front of Megaton.

"Oi, Bishop," one of them called him over.

"Whats up," Bishop jogged over to the man.

"We're still one short, including these two," he pointed over at Aiden and Lucy.

"Wolfgang, come play," Lucy called over to a man standing by a Brahmin. The man turned around and smiled.

"Lucy," he opened his arms in a greeting, "I'd be thrilled to participate in your game."

"Well there we go," she smiled, "Let's play."

Wolfgang and Aiden left their weapons and armor with the Caravan guard. They all got divided into teams, Wolfgang and Lucy were on hats and Aiden was on head wraps with Bishop.

"Aiden, your really skinny," Lucy laughed, "You look like you might blow away in the wind." _Am I that skinny? _He looked down at himself. _Well fuck. Thanks for pointing that out._

"Stop checking me out," he winked. Everyone laughed and Lucy blushed in embarrassment.

Several innings in, Bishop and Aiden were getting flattened, it turns out Wolfgang was a world-class player. Aiden was drenched in sweat; it was a hot day out. He had already removed his shirt, and he was toying around with the idea of taking off his pants. He felt he would do anything to get a little cooler. Bishop stood in right field and Aiden stood in left. They only needed one more out and it was their turn to bat.

"Back up," the pitcher yelled, "Wolfgang is up." _Ah fuck. More moving. _Aiden backpedaled a couple yards and stopped. Bishop however ran the length of half a football field.

"Come on, Aiden," Bishop laughed, he noticed Bishop was still wearing all his clothes, "You got to get used to this." There was a crack and the ball was flying through the air. Bishop yelled that he had it and ran even further back. _This is crazy. I'm dehydrated and exhausted. When will this game end? I feel like we've playing for hours. _There was applause all around him and he looked up, Bishop was jogging forward holding the ball in the air. He joined in the cheering for a second, but then the smile was wiped from Bishop's face and he dropped to his knees, a red stain forming on his shirt. He looked down in disbelief, and, placing a hand on the wound, fell backwards onto the dirt. The ball rolled pitifully away, unnoticed by anyone.

"Raiders!" someone near Megaton yelled. The players all started screaming and running for the town. A flurry of bullets was released from either side, Wolfgang and the guard having fired back at the Raiders.

"Aiden…" the voice was faint, fainter still over the gunfire. He looked up and saw Bishop sprawled up against a rock. He reached a hand out to Aiden, as if begging for help. Tears started to well up in Aiden's eyes at the sight of him crying, pushing desperately on the wound trying to stop the bleeding. _I have to get over there._ He peeked around the rock he was hiding behind and, seeing the Raiders all behind cover, made a mad sprint towards Bishop every step fueled by the continuous thought of _your almost there._

"Aiden…" Bishop whispered when he had finally made it, "take this…" Aiden saw now that he had a .32 pistol.

"Don't let them take me Aiden… Don't let them…" the tears flowed freely from both men's faces, "Promise… You'll shoot me… Before you let them get me…"

"I won't shoot you, their not going to get you, they won't get either of us," Aiden wiped his eyes, "I'll distract them, you crawl to Megaton. Use the rocks as cover." Bishop nodded his head and his eyes seemed to say thank you, and he began to crawl away.

Aiden took a deep breath and stood up and fired at any Raider who showed their heads. He didn't expect to hit them; he just wanted them to keep their heads down. In what seemed like no time at all, he heard the familiar click meaning the gun was empty. _Five bullets. Useless. Fuck._ He turned to look at Megaton and saw Wolfgang and the guard rush forward to pick Bishop up. Lucas was there and a man he hadn't met. He had a shaved head and was wearing leather armor. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his skull and then the world turned black.


	5. Unsettling News

"…They shot him afterwards too…" a familiar female voice faded in. The world was so blurry. _Where am I? Bishop…_He attempted to turn over.

"We have movement," an unfamiliar voice said. He tried to look around, but couldn't make out any shapes. Everything looked like a shapeless blob. _Bishop… I'm coming… don't die…don't fucking die on me…_ He stood up but two sets of hands pushed him gently down. He was on a bed somewhere.

"No… We have to help Bishop… They shot him…" he raised a hand to his head and tried to shake feeling into it. He felt like someone cracked it in half with a hammer.

"Aiden… We got Bishop…" the woman's voice said again, and he looked up and saw Amata's face swim into view.

"Amata… you made it out…" he reached a hand out to her and she grabbed it.

"Doctor," the voice said, on the verge of tears, "What's wrong with him?"

"We gave him a lot of Med-X and stimpacks, we had to stop the bleeding," said the unfamiliar voice, and Aiden looked over at him and was shocked to see his dad standing there.

"Will he be okay?" The woman's voice was cracking.

"I don't know, I'll do everything I can," he said as he extracted another needle.

"Dad… why did you leave…" Aiden asked with tears in his eyes, looking over at his dad.

"Here, this will help," his dad said, and emptied the needle into Aiden's arm. The hands holding his squeezed tight as the world turned to black again.

He awoke again several days later, stiff and sore. Though still blurry, he could make out that he must be in the Clinic by the abundance of medical posters. He pushed himself up off the bed and shakily stood up. With hands on either side of the walls, he pushed himself forward. _I feel so weak. What's going on? Where's Bishop?_ He found a bathroom and leaned over the sink. He felt so sick and so weak. He shut his eyes and held tight to both sides of the sink willing himself to not throw up.

Moments later he got up to leave and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His head had been shaved and when he ran his hand over it, he felt stitches on the back of his head. His face was now so pale and his blue eyes seemed duller than usual too. _What the hell did they do to me?_

"Aiden? Aiden!? Aiden!" He heard Lucy shout. "Church, Aiden is gone!"

"He was there a few minutes ago," he heard the unfamiliar voice say in a panic. There was much cluttering around as if the two had begun looking for something. Aiden looked around for a weapon, he was not facing them unprepared incase they tried to trick him. With nothing else in sight, he drove his fist into the mirror, shattering the face staring back at him, and picked up a shard of glass. He shut off the lights and pressed himself tight against the wall, counting every heartbeat he had, and every step the other two made.

"Lucy, I heard something in the bathroom," he heard the voice draw closer. The door opened revealing a weathered looking African-american man, his beard and hair a snowy white.

"Aiden, are you in here," he spoke, "Come out, Lucy brought you something." Aiden grabbed the doctor and pushed him against the wall, with the shard to his throat.

"Who the hell are you, and what did you do to me?" Aiden demanded. "And where the hell is Bishop? I want to see him."

"I'm the doctor, I'm the reason you're still breathing. As for Bishop, he's been dead for two weeks, Lucy brought you to the hospital despite my advising against it." The doctor grunted, and Aiden let go of him and stepped back.

"You're fucking lying," he shouted. Footsteps began running towards the door.

"I'm not. We've told you several times before, and you always got violent. We had to sedate you constantly; sometimes I wondered if you would ever recover. Lucy never gave up on you though." The doctor said in a calm soothing voice, almost as if Aiden was a lost child.

"Aiden!" The door opened again and Lucy stood silhouetted in the doorframe.

"Is this true, Lucy? Is Bishop… dead?" He asked looking over at her.

"It is, Aiden… You were there when we buried him." Lucy sounded almost frightened. _I failed. He's dead and Silver's dead!_ He lashed out against the wall causing Lucy and the Doc to jump back. _Goddamn raiders! I'll destroy every one of them. Never again will someone die in my presence. Never again will I be weak._ Every part of him inside felt like it was on fire. His insides lashed out against his body and his heart pounded with rage and hatred, for himself and the bandits.

He made a move for the door, but Lucy stepped in and grabbed him. Hugged him. _What the hell…_ His insides calmed down and with it so did his body. He felt a stabbing pain in his arm and all feeling just flowed out of his body, leaving him a shell. He recognized this. He looked down and saw tears in Lucy's eyes and a needle in his arm. His eyes glazed over and he soon found himself asleep.


	6. Alliances Forged In Pain

He awoke again sometime later, though how much later he didn't know nor care. Something inside of him hurt, a new wave of pain washed through him with every beat of his heart. He, he was alive while Silver and Bishop, two people he could have saved, lie dead, one buried, and one desecrated. He didn't want to think what the raiders did to Silver.

Lucy arrived a short while later, though Aiden barely noticed. Everything now was drowned out with the feelings of guilt, pain, and hatred.

"…The doctor said you can leave today Aiden," her voice was low almost as if she was afraid to hurt his ear drums, "isn't that great news?"

"Huh?" He said looking up at her. "What did you say?" _I can leave. I can do something right. I can help people. I'll carry on what Bishop wanted to do. I can still help as many people as I can._

"Were you even listening?" She looked hurt. Aiden could feel her eyes gazing into his, but he hardly noticed. _Dad. This is your fault. If I ever see you again, there will be hell to pay, I promise you._

"Sure, let's go," he stood up, but his body easily gave up on him after weeks of rest. Lucy helped him up, but he shook her off and stumbled toward the door. The doc stood up as he left.

"You need one last check-up before you go," He stood in front of the door as he said this.

"Go fuck yourself, Church," he muttered as he shoved him out of the way. Lucy looked questioningly at Church, asking for answers with her eyes. Church merely shrugged and shook his head. Once outside, Aiden had a sudden urge to hug Lucy, to hold her, to thank her for visiting him everyday for two weeks, even if he couldn't remember. He forced those feelings down and walked in silence to Lucy's.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Aiden, who spent the day sitting in Lucy's house refusing meals and not speaking. His eyes were glazed over as he thought of the best course of action. _I'll go to Arefu. Find out what the fuck is wrong with her family. Then… Then I'll go to Rivet City. Silver wanted to go there, there specifically nowhere else. _He didn't know why this was so significant, but it was his only plan of action. _Silver… you junkie…YOU JUNKIE!_ He jumped suddenly to his feet and found Lucy in the bedroom.

"Where's my stuff?" he spoke after a moment of them staring at each other, he standing in the doorframe, and her sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Do you remember what you said to me at Bishop's funeral…" she looked up, her eyes pleading with his. They stared for several moments, both trying to see past the other's eyes into their thoughts.

"Where's my stuff…" He said again, though quieter than before.

"It's under the bed…" She turned away. Her eyes were red and puffy, but Aiden took no notice. He grabbed the bag from under the bed and left the house. Finding a secluded spot in the alley, he took a needle out of the bag and stuck it in his arm. _Pathetic…_ Soon, he didn't feel any pain at all, and he went back to the house.

Kicking his bag back under the bed, he saw Lucy lying on the bed fast asleep. He stopped everything, he stopped thinking, he stopped moving, the only thing he didn't stop was breathing. Time slipped away and he realized what he had to do. Sitting at the table he scribbled her a quick note and, following the will of his feet, he went to Moriarty's.

He entered the saloon minutes later, and, owing to the fact that he was wearing a hoodie, he flipped his hood up and sat at the bar. He spent a few moments staring at the counter top, not because of something humorous or frightening, but more owing to the fact he was deep in thought. _I have no idea where Rivet City is. I'm so screwed. Fuck, why does everything have to be so complicated?_ His train of thought was broken by the raspiest voice he had ever heard.

"Can I get you something, smooth skin?" _Smooth skin? What the fuck?_ His head snapped up and he saw a man, or at least what used to be a man. The bartender was literally falling apart, and looked as if he had been decaying for sometime.

"Uh-yeah… uh… v-vodka?" He managed to stutter out, being completely taken aback by this mans appearance.

"Sure thing," the man rasped out, but, upon handing it to Aiden, spilt it all over the counter.

"Gob, you stupid fuck," a voice with an Irish accent called out. Aiden looked behind Gob, and saw the meanest looking guy he had ever seen. With messy gray hair and matching goatee, he looked menacing with a pissed off look on his face.

"Don't hit me," came the pitiful cry from Gob as he cowered in front of Moriarty. Moriarty's only reply was a swift knee to Gob's ribs.

"Leave him alone," Aiden's voice was the perfect blend of authority and power. Any sound the patrons in the bar may have been making died instantly.

"And who the fuck might you be," Moriarty asked while shoving Gob aside, "and why the fuck are you in my business?"

"If you touch him again, it'll be the last thing you do," Aiden spat at Moriarty, standing up from his stool. The two men glared at each other for what seemed like forever, and even though Moriarty was shooting daggers out of his eyes, Aiden did his best to keep his eyes locked on Moriarty's.

"He he, you got gut's kids," Moriarty chuckled and they both stopped staring so intently and relaxed.

"Leave him alone," Aiden repeated. Moriarty chuckled again, but then without warning grabbed Aiden by the collar of his hoodie and dragged him over the bar counter. Immediately picking him up, he began to punch him continuously in the face with his right hand. His left arm was pressed up against Aiden's throat choking him, and within seconds, Aiden found himself on the verge of passing out; the only thing stopping this was his body was still numb from the Med-X. There was the sound of glass shattering and Aiden soon found himself able to breathe. He fell to the ground holding his throat.

"That's it Gob, I'm gonna kill you," Moriarty growled. Aiden glanced up and saw Gob backing up, looking absolutely terrified, with a broken bottle in his hand. He could see Moriarty had shards of glass in his air, and Aiden instantly realized what happened. _Thank you, Gob._ Aiden immediately charged Moriarty, and, with his shoulder pressed into Moriarty's back, slammed him into the fridge. Moriarty slumped to the floor, knocked out.

"Aiden, look out behind you," Gob yelled in his raspy sort of voice. Aiden turned around and saw several patrons pulling out weapons and advancing menacingly on him. _I help someone and your all gonna beat the shit outta me? Typical._ He looked around for anything that might help him, and his eyes stopped on an old fashioned Remington shotgun. He grabbed it, and, just like the movies he used to watch in the Vault, he pulled the pump. A shell flew out and he heard another one enter the chamber.

"Gob, is there another way out of here," Aiden asked, his eyes, and shotgun, darting to each would-be assailant, "I don't really feel like killing seventeen people to get out of here."

"There might be in the backroom, I've never been back there," was Gob's reply. With his back to the wall, Gob slowly inched himself to the door followed closely by Aiden. Once through the door, Aiden locked it and Gob helped him barricade it by pushing a cabinet in front of it.

"There, that door there," Gob rushed forward and opened it, filling the depths of the room with the evening light.

"Follow me!" Aiden yelled and sprinted past Gob. He could hear Gob in close pursuit as he took shortcuts through back alleys, attempting to get to Lucy's as fast as he could. He took a sharp turn and smashed right into Lucas. They both spiraled to the ground, and Gob stopped.

"Gob, go to Lucy's! I need to talk to Lucas," Aiden moaned holding his face. Gob began running again and Aiden heard his footsteps fade into oblivion.

"Get up," Lucas said, offering his hand. Aiden gratefully took it and groaned as he was lifted up. The med-x was definitely wearing off; he could already feel the swelling in his face.

"Can you do me a favor?" he asked, as he was doubled over catching his breath.

"That depends doesn't it?" Lucas chuckled. "What might it be?"

"Let's go to your house," Aiden replied and Lucas nodded.


	7. Leaving Megaton, Together

_Don't creak._ He slowly pushed the door open and, much to his relief, it glided quite soundlessly.

"Aiden," a raspy voice greeted him, and he had to bite his tongue to stop from yelling out. _Goddamn it Gob._

"Fuck Gob, you scared the shit out of me," he said taking a seat at the table across from Gob.

"I read your letter," Gob said, though catching Aiden's face he hastily added, "I didn't mean to, I saw it and curiosity took over."

"Whatever, I'm leaving tonight. Before Lucy wakes up," Aiden sighed and put his head in his hands.

"_Dear Lucy, I caught your eyes today and I saw your pain. I won't be another source; you already have your family to worry about. If you wake up, I'm at Moriarty's. It'll be okay soon. I promise." _ Gob read out, "You really care about her don't you?"

"I hate seeing anyone hurt," he muttered, "You should know that. I just saved your ass."

"Thank you, by the way," Gob sincerely said, "Where are you going?"

"Arefu, I'm gonna _kill_ her family for not answering her," Aiden angrily said, "and then I'm going to Rivet City."

"Rivet City. Why?" Gob asked.

"I.. was going to go there with a friend," Aiden lied. "But she… couldn't go."

"Well then, I'll go," Gob's eyes pleaded with Aiden, "I don't want to be here anymore. Please." Aiden stared at him for a few moments before sighing.

"I can't stop you," he stood up, "and honestly? Where the hell else could you go, back to Moriartys? I'm leaving in under half an hour. Be ready."

"I have to go see someone quick," Gob quickly stood up and ran out the door. Aiden stood still, quite alone, in the middle of the room. In the next room he could hear the gentle breathing of Lucy and any doubt he had about the trip instantly vanished. He looked down at the letter and decided that it was best to burn it. Stepping quickly but quietly into the bedroom, he grabbed his bags from under the bed, including his armor from Moira and the assault rifle. He stood up and reveled in the fact that, just standing here knowing Lucy was nearby, he was happy.

Half an hour came and went quickly and the duo began the walk to the gate; Aiden crumpled up the note he had written and tossed it in a burning barrel on the way by. Lucas Simms stood at the door waiting for them.

"You're going too, Gob?" Lucas asked, shaking both their hands.

"It's my only chance," he raspily replied.

"Lucy's going to be mighty heartbroken with you going too, Gob, she always liked you," Lucas shook his head sadly.

"Remember our agreement, Lucas," Aiden said, staring into Lucas' eyes.

"Three days. I know," Lucas nodded, "I won't forget. Do you have the food and armor?"

"Yes, thank you… for everything," Aiden replied and shook his hand again. "This is goodbye. For now."

"Indeed. Take care of Gob for me would ya?" Lucas replied, now shaking Gob's hand.

"I'll die before he comes under harm," Aiden replied, quite seriously. Gob choked a little when he heard this, but the trio stood quite silently.

"See you around," they all said at once, and Lucas walked back into town while the duo ventured out into the Wastes. Neither of them talked for a long time, not until the sun had already broken the binds of darkness on the land.

"Do you need a weapon, Gob?" Aiden suddenly asked, the idea only just coming to mind.

"Well… I could use one… I mean if you have one to spare…" Gob nervously said.

"Here, take this," he said, handing the assault rifle over to Gob, "I'm a shitty aim anyway, I'll have much more luck with this." He slung the shotgun over his back, where the assault rifle had been moments before.

"Thank you, thank you," Gob replied most gratefully.

"Are you scared of me, Gob?" He asked looking over at the ghoul.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Gob's voice noticeably shook.

"I mean do I scare you? You sound scared and nervous," Aiden laughed. _Imagine someone being scared of me, that'll be the end of the world._

"Well… no… not really… just more so that you wanted to do this alone, and now here I am ruining that," Gob replied. "It seems like you might be happier if I was gone."

"Don't be ridiculous, I wanted to go alone, but you make the time go by faster. With you here, I won't be plagued down by thoughts so much," Aiden smiled at him. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad you wanted to come."

"Okay," Gob said, sounding more confident, "I'll do my best to be useful. I'm pretty good at first aid, you know, after having to take care of myself whenever Moriarty hit me."

"That'll be useful," Aiden acknowledged, "anything else?"

"I'm ok at repairing things," Gob said, looking up at the sky thinking. "The radio would always break at Moriarty's."

"Well, you're already ten times as useful as me," Aiden laughed, "You might as well just head up this expedition."

"Why do you say that?" Gob asked.

"I'm good at sneaking off, breaking into things, and punching things," he sighed, "your skills help everyone, and my skills help only me."

The rest of the day was passed by small talk between the two, which was good as nothing happened. The day was event free and they soon found themselves taking refuge in a cave in the face of a rock wall when night fell. The duo was huddled up to a fire, cooking Iguana on a stick.

"What's that?" Aiden asked pointing to a large, naked pink creature.

"A mole rat," Gob replied, "One on one they're really easy, but they often swarm and then it's a problem. You can get a fair bit of meat off them."

"I see. Are they abundant in the Wastes?"

"Sometimes. What's that computer on your arm?"

Aiden looked down at his Pip-Boy, the last thing he owned from the Vault.

"It's a Pip-Boy; it's like a mini computer, I use mine to hack computers, not very well mind you, but I do alright. It's got a map programmed into it, and it's kind of tuned into my body. It can tell me what I'm sick with, or how fragile my limbs are. It's got other uses, but I never bothered finding them out," Aiden explained.

"I see. That seems pretty valuable, is it heavy or annoying to have on your arm?" Gob asked, stifling a yawn behind his hand.

"I guess, I don't even notice it's there anymore honestly. It's been on for nine years," Aiden said. "You should get some sleep, I'll keep watch."

"You can sleep, I'll keep watch," Gob replied.

"Gob, you don't have to earn your keep. I'm not tired and I saw you yawn, so just do it," Aiden said, shaking his head.

"Okay… if you're sure…" Gob said rolling out the sleeping bag Lucas had given them. "Good night, Aiden."

"Good night, Gob," Aiden whispered.

They set out early the next morning after Aiden had slept for a few hours. The next couple days went by exactly like the previous one, no incidents, no anything. They soon found themselves out of things to talk about and resorted to walking in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. It felt like paradise when they finally stumbled into Arefu on their fourth day.


	8. Heeeeeeeeeeere's Lucy!

She awoke sleepily when morning came. She had felt Aiden come in the room last night and grab his gear while she lay silent, pretending to sleep. He stood there after for a long time and she wished he would say something, but no such luck. He just walked out, and the tears began anew finally helping her to sleep.

She knew then, this morning, that Aiden was gone before she even got up. The day's passed quickly and were filled with feelings of loneliness and pain, for her other friend Gob had also left. She now had no one to talk to or laugh with, though Lucas came by the house when he could. He looked tired and worn more so than usual.

On the third day of Aiden's disappearance, Lucas swung by the house early in the morning. He looked healthier, like a great weight had been lifted and she soon knew why.

"Aiden wanted me to give you this," Lucas said, passing a holotape over the table. Her heart a skipped a beat, it might even have skipped several beats. She shakily held out a hand and picked up the holotape, staring at it intently as though expecting it to disappear.

"I'll leave you to it," he smiled and stood up, "I'll swing by later." With that, he was gone and Lucy was alone with her thoughts. _Aiden…_

"_Lucy…" _Aiden's voice rang out when she pressed play, "_I'm sorry. I never wanted to go, no, because I feel like you stole a piece of me. I don't know when it happened or how, but uh when I left the Clinic my body was at war with itself. A thousand different feelings were warring with each other and which one came out strongest, do you think? My feelings for you, and because of this I have to go. I have no idea what these feelings mean. To me, it seems we've only known each other one day. I have no idea what it took for you to visit me day after day for two weeks. My memory is blank from the day I was shot to the day I tried to kill the doctor. So no, I don't remember what I said to you at the funeral, but if these feelings are any indication… Well. We both know what I'm trying to say. Until I figure out these feelings, I can't stick around; I don't want to hurt you. I'll find your family and then I'm going to Rivet City. I'll be back, I don't know when, but I promise I'll be back. I'm sorry…I should be able to say this to your face, but instead I'm narrating it to a fucking machine. Forgive me…"_ These last words trailed off into silence as tears rolled quietly down her face. She got up slowly and walked over to the bed. Lying down, she pressed play and soon faded back into sleep with the sound of his voice washing over her.


	9. Bigotry In Arefu

"Who's there," a scared voice shouted down the overpass, "Identify yourself."

"I'm Aiden, and this is Gob, we come from Megaton. Lucy West is worried about her parents, and I told her I'd check on them," Aiden called up the bridge.

"Come up, but slowly, and mind your hands," The voice called down. Aiden and Gob exchanged humored glances and began the ascent to Arefu. They found themselves standing before an older gentleman who was aiming a gun at Gob.

"Get away from that ghoul, boy. He's dangerous." The man beckoned for Aiden to come behind the sandbag. Gob looked down dejectedly, clearly hurt. Aiden felt a tinge of annoyance in his chest. He grabbed the barrel of the gun and pulled. The gun slipped easily out of the old timers feeble grasp. The old man, clearly startled, shouted out.

"What are you doing, boy? That ghoul will eat you alive," He said backing up.

"Look, old man, I'm going to say this once. Gob here, he's my friend and I don't like it when people hurt my friends. You better get your fucking tongue in check or I'll make you look ten times worse than a ghoul," Aiden said, rage burning behind his eyes. The man must have noticed, because he nodded his head slowly and mumbled a hasty apology.

"Sorry, I- I just been under a lot of stress lately, first with the Family, and then a ghoul comes waltzing up the ramp… I was just trying to protect who ever is left here," The old man muttered. "The name's Evan King, I'm the mayor of Arefu." He held out his hand, but Aiden ignored it.

"What family?" He asked, his arms folded on his chest.

"THE Family, boy, they're a gang who have been terrorizing us. They come here and taunt us, telling us to come outside. That was the extent of it until a couple nights ago when they attacked. They slaughtered all of our Brahmin," King pointed down to the paddock, Aiden didn't look.

"Where do the Wests live?" Aiden asked, still glaring at the old man.

"They're the very last house at the end of the overpass," King indicated behind him, "Could you check on everybody, to make sure they're okay? I don't want to leave the entrance."

"I don't care what happens to bigots," he said coldly, and walked by King. _And anyone who ignores their own kid._ Together with Gob, he walked down to the end of the overpass. _There's only like, four houses here; I can't imagine why Lucy would leave. Bigots and cramped corridors. Fun times._

"It's okay," a voice whispered. Aiden wheeled around and looked at Gob.

"What did you say?" He asked.

"It's okay… you know… I'm used to being treated like this…" Gob whispered. "There's no use being as mad as you are."

"I'm not mad," Aiden said, but all the same he felt his rage slipping away. He sighed, "Look, Gob, you have feelings and emotions too. It's not okay for people to treat you like this because you look different. That would be like saying every person you see is a raider. It's stupid."

"I guess…" Gob said, sounding marginally more cheerful. "You're the fourth ever smooth skin to be nice to me, you know.

"Only four?" Aiden repeated incredulously.

"Ya, Simms, Lucy, you, and Nova… She's the… adult entertainment at the bar," Gob said, his face screwed up in pain.

"Adult entertainment?" Aiden again repeated, though this time with curiosity.

"Ya, guy's pay her and then they… they… you know… fuck her…" His voice trailed off at the end, almost as if the thought was killing him.

"You like her?" Aiden asked.

"I… I think I love her… but she's a smooth skin and I'm a decaying, walking meat bag," he looked at the ground again. Aiden looked at him; he was at a loss for words. What could he say to cheer his friend up?

"You know, Lucy told me Nova liked you too," He said lying quickly.

"…Really…?" Gob asked, hope and desperation abundant in his voice.

"Oh yeah, she thinks you're the nicest guy ever," He lied again. _I hope Nova's not picky… I'll have to talk to her about this…I guess we should get to checking on Lucy's family first…_ At the thought of Lucy, though, his chest gave off a fresh burst of pain and he hastily said, "Come on, let's fuck Lucy's parents up." Gob chuckled and Aiden felt a little happiness to see him laugh. He knocked on the West's door. No answer.

"Open up, I have a message from your daughter," He shouted, pounding on the door. No answer again. "You had your chance, I'm coming in." He opened the door and the most revolting odor ever conceived invaded his nostrils; he leaned over the edge of the overpass and began to throw up.


	10. Body Bags and Vampires

"Are you okay, Aiden?" Gob asked worriedly.

"Hell… No…" Aiden managed to say between fresh bouts of vomiting.

"What's wrong?" Gob's voice came from inside the house.

"You don't fucking smell that?" Aiden asked rather sickly.

"I lost the ability to smell a long time ago, but I think I understand why you might be sick. They're dead, Aiden," Gob said coming outside.

"Dead? How?" Aiden asked, finding strength to stand up straight.

"It looked like they were attacked by, if you'll actually believe me, vampires," Gob said shaking his head, "They have bite marks on their neck and they're drained of blood." The duo looked at each other, rather worriedly.

"Maybe we should check on the others…" Aiden said slowly.

"I agree," Gob replied, and they ran off to the first house.

"This is King's house," Gob said, reading the name on the house.

"Fuck it then, let's get the next one," Aiden said, and they both ran to the next house, which read Schenzy. Aiden frantically pounded on the door, and a woman called out through it.

"Who's there?" She called out. "I'm armed!"

"I'm Aiden, King told me to check on you," Aiden shouted through the door.

"One second, I'll let you in, but don't you try nothing," Her voice came through the door. Moments later, the lock clicked and Aiden quickly opened the door.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Barely, you both better come inside it's not safe out there," Ms. Schenzy said.

"Thank you. Ms Schenzy," the both said as they walked in.

"Please, call me Karen," she said, shutting the door and locking it.

"Did you know the Wests are dead?" Aiden asked breathlessly.

"What? Dead? When? How?" Karen asked, looking mortified.

"Judging from the smell," Gob's eyes flicked over to Aiden for the fraction of a second, "and state of the bodies, I would say atleast a week. It looked as though they had the blood drained out of them." Karen just stood in silence for several moments, too aghast to say anything.

"Well.. What killed them?" She asked finally.

"Vampires. Or so it looks like. There are incisions in the neck that suggest it," Gob explained to her.

"Vampires… Oh my god…" Karen said, sitting down on her couch. "Does Evan know about this?"

"No," Aiden interjected in front of Gob who had been about to speak, "And we're not telling him. I'm not dealing with him."

"God damn it, Aiden, people are dead," Gob looked over at him, "King needs to know."

"King can fuck himself, we're not telling him shit," Aiden stared over at Gob, and, for one very long minute, Gob glared back at him.

"Excuse me, we have more important matters right now. Maybe we shouldn't be fighting?" Karen said, though rather timidly. The duo stared for a few moments longer before Aiden broke the silence.

"She's right," Aiden sighed, "If you two want to tell King, go ahead."

"I saw the bodies. I'll talk to him," Gob said.

"I'll come with you," Karen said, "I know how… opinionated he can be."

"I guess that leaves me to check on the other family," Aiden said. They all stepped outside, and Karen and Gob ran ahead to talk to King while Aiden walked up to the fourth and last house.

"Are you still breathing in there?" Aiden shouted through the door, pounding on it unrelentlessly.

"Alright you little punk, I've had enough now you're going to get it," a voice shouted through the door, and moments later a man stepped out of it. The anger on his face faded when he saw Aiden.

"But your only a kid," he said, dumbfounded.

"Good eyes, pal, do you live alone," Aiden asked, gazing around the man, "The Family didn't get anyone did they?"

"No, me and my wife are safe, though some days I wish otherwise about my wife," he shook his head, "she's dumb as a doorknob." Aiden chuckled weakly.

"Great. Well, since your both okay…" Aiden said walking away.

"Get back here, and tell me what the hell you want," the man called after him.

"Look, I got shit to do, I just came to check on you," Aiden sighed exasperatedly, "You're fine, so if you don't mind, I'm just going to, you know, walk away now." The man called out several more times, but Aiden just walked on. _Shit, what do I tell Lucy? Sorry, your parents aren't answering because they're fucking dead. No, not because of me, it was because of vampires. Really, I'm being serious._ Even in his head this sounded insanely ridiculous.

"Aiden!" Gob called out to him, "The Family must have kidnapped her brother."

"What? Whose brother?" Aiden asked, raising his eyebrows.

"There was a third West, Ian. I only saw two bodies and they were both older. It only means that they, probably to be eaten later, kidnapped Ian. There's hope he's still alive," Gob explained really rather quickly. _There's still hope…_

"We leave now. Old man!" He said pointing at King, "Where the hell does the Family come from?"

"I've only ever seen them coming from the East, I don't know where they actually call home," King said rather excitedly at the thought of finally being rid of the Family.

"Great, any starting points?"

"Try Northwest Seneca Station, it's dark, you know vampires can't stand the light."

"Vampires, it's unbelievable," Aiden said, shaking his head. "Come on, Gob." The duo set out immediately at a very brisk pace. By early evening, they had made it to Northwest Seneca Station. The square was empty, save for a few buildings.

"Well… let's head in," Gob said, clutching his assault rifle rather tightly. Aiden just grimaced and nodded, saying nothing; his stomach was filled with butterflies and he felt if he opened his mouth he would just end up puking again.

The chain gate opened noisily and this only served to heighten Aiden's nerves. He reached into his pocket, extracted his switchblade, and took a deep breath. Looking over at Gob, he nodded his head toward the gate, indicating he would go first. Gob nodded, and Aiden stepped silently into the dimly lit station. The entry way was empty, but he could see a shadow in the next room. _It doesn't look human… Is this the family?_ He pressed himself to the wall next to the doorway and peeked in. He couldn't see what was making the shadow, but it looked like it was getting closer. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, deafening him, as the shadow drew even closer. When, by all indications, whatever was casting the shadow was right in front of the doorframe, Aiden took a deep breath. _This is it._


	11. Spending Quality Family Time Together

Aiden lunged through the door, switchblade out. Landing on the thing that cast the shadow, he began to stab it in a frenzy, not stopping 'til his breath came out in ragged bursts. Standing up, he looked down at what he had attacked. His heart gave a leap when he saw it was only a mole rat, or at least that's what it looked like. Several large chunks had been torn from it, and the whole body was covered in lacerations.

"Well… At least I didn't panic," he muttered to himself, "and that's all that matters." He walked back out to the entryway and called out to Gob.

"It's safe, come on down," He shouted out. Aiden was shoved to the ground and he felt a clawing sensation deep in his back. Aiden's switchblade flew out of his hand and skittered across the floor. He rolled over and a second mole rat jumped on his chest, attempting to bite his face. Covering his face with his right arm, he reached his left up to the mole rats head and attempted to push it back.

"Gob! Hurry up!" He shouted. The mole rat was strong and he didn't know how much longer his arm could hold out. A door swung open somewhere further down the tunnel, and he heard more raspy voices. There was the sound of guns cocking, and he was soon covered in mole rat brains.

"Alright smooth skin, don't move," one of the voices said, pointing a 10mm pistol at him. "What are you doing down here?"

"I'm looking for the Family," he said, "they killed my friends parents." The ghoul turned to look at his friend and they shared skeptical looks.

"So you know nothing about our secrets?" The lead ghoul asked, looking back at Aiden.

"Secrets? What? No. I'm looking for the Family. What secrets?" He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Well, if you must know we're developing Ultra-Jet," The lead ghoul said. "We thought you might be stealing our formula."

"No, I'm much more of a Med-X kind of guy," Aiden said, pushing himself to a sitting position. He began to wipe the blood off his face.

"Heh, your pretty funny smoothy," the lead ghoul chuckled. "I'm Murphy and this charming individual behind me is Barrett." Barrett nodded his head.

"I'm Aiden," He said standing himself up completely now. _Where the hell is Gob? He should be here by now._

"Are you looking for someone?" Murphy asked, noticing Aiden looking over his shoulder to the entrance.

"Ya, my friend Gob should have come down by now," Aiden said, as he began to walk towards the entrance, picking up his switchblade on the way by. He pulled out his shotgun and cautiously peered out the gate into the warm evening air.

"Gob?" He called out cautiously. He could only hear the sound of garbage blowing in the wind. He stepped out a little further and saw a completely deserted square, no Gob, no blood, and no sign of a struggle. His heart now beating furiously, he hurriedly entered the station again and pulled the gate shut. Something wasn't right out there. He quickly ran to the room where Murphy and Barrett had come from, and shut that door behind him as well.

"Smooth skin? Something wrong?" Murphy asked looking up at him.

"Gob… Gone… No… Sign of… Him…." He said, breathing heavily. He slid down the door into a sitting position on the floor. Now that he was gone, Aiden realized he was faced with an impossible prospect; single-handedly battle a group of murderous vampires. _What have I gotten myself into? I should have just stayed in Megaton; I have no business being out here. _

"What do you think happened?" Murphy asked, though he sounded like he didn't really care.

"I don't know. Maybe something got him, but I think he might have run to the station if he were under attack. There was no blood, so that rules out that he was killed," Aiden said, his brain working furiously.

"Well, I can't help you with that, but I can help you with the Family. There is a hatch in the next room that leads to the Meresti Service Tunnel, that is where the Family hangs their hats," Murphy said, still not looking up from whatever he was doing.

"Thanks," Aiden said, and he opened the door to the next room.

"Oh, and smooth skin? Shoot the mirelurks in the face," the second ghoul, Barrett, called out. Aiden nodded his head and went to the hatch. He took a deep breath, opened it, and began the descent into the blackness below. When he reached the bottom, he pulled out his shotgun, and checked to see that it was loaded. It was.

"Okay, let's do this," He said to himself, "It can't be that hard." _Yes, it can, don't flatter yourself. You're just a kid; you had trouble killing one raider. How do you think your going to take on a group of blood-sucking vampires? You should just go crawling back to Megaton._

"No, I wont," he said very quietly to himself, "This is Lucy's last living relative. I won't give up." _Sure, then you die. Lucy is then left with no word from you, her family, or Gob. She'll be more alone than you could ever imagine and it will be entirely your fault._

"Shut up," he said to his brain. He reached into his pack and pulled out a needle. Sticking it into his arm, he forced the plunger down. His thoughts, along with all feelings of pain or doubt, faded away.

"That's better," he breathed a sigh of relief. He slowly began to move through the darkness, ears peaked, listening for any signs of movements. Something somewhere was making a small clicking noise, and it was really playing hell on Aiden's nerves. Up ahead, up an incline, there was light shining down. _That's a good a place to start as any._ The clicking noise was getting closer, and Aiden could now feel his forehead beginning to perspire. Slowly, he treaded very carefully through the rocky cavern. _Strange. You would figure a train station would be concrete and metal._

The clicking was now almost right behind him, and Aiden began to panic. He could barely see, and there were bones everywhere. He placed his left hand on the wall to help him navigate through the cave, at least this way he wouldn't get lost. As he drew ever closer to the light, he found it easier and easier to see. Within seconds, he was standing at the base of the incline, and that's when the clicking stopped. He shut his eyes, held his breath, and slowly turned around, praying against prayers that there was nothing there. He opened his eyes and his heart stopped. There was nothing there.

"Thank god," he let out the breath he had been holding in. Turning around, he took a step forward and felt a tension beneath his foot, but it quickly snapped. Looking down, he saw a string, which had broken, and he saw three grenades roll past his foot. He frantically began scrabbling up the incline, feeling that every heartbeat would now be his last. There was a deafening explosion, the sound of rock cracking, and a rush of heat; he felt himself thrown to the ground, though as far as he could tell he was not injured.

"What the hell was that?!" Aiden muttered, getting up and dusting himself off. Suddenly, the clicking sound started again, though frenzied this time. He looked down the incline and saw a giant crab like thing standing on two legs running up at him. One claw was gone, presumably from the explosion, and blood was dripping down onto the ground below it. Through his medicated state, he could feel fear gripping his chest. He turned around again, and began to sprint down the ruined subway tunnel. The clicking sound was rapidly approaching, and he knew he had no chance to outrun the creature.

He heard, and felt, a rush of air behind him, and he knew the mirelurk must have attacked. He jumped forward, quite ridiculously in a superman type pose, and he landed on his stomach, hard. There was a rusty metallic clanging sound, and the creature roared out in pain. Using the adrenaline to his advantage, he sprang to his feet and pointed the shotgun behind him. He saw the mirelurk lying on the ground still screeching in pain. It's leg had been caught in a bear trap, which, if Aiden had taken three more steps, he was sure it would be around his leg, and not the mirelurk's. He pointed the gun at the mirelurk's unarmored face and pulled the trigger. It's face splattered out of its shell, staining the ground in a cone shape.

"As if that just happened," he said, shaking his head. He walked onwards, and soon found himself looking down another incline, though this one was actually part of the station. A man sat behind sandbags laced with barbwire, SMG pointed right at Aiden's chest.

"What business do you have down here?" he shouted.

"I'm here for Ian West," Aiden called down, "I'm not leaving without him."

"Ian's with us now," the man said, "We're his Family now, we're all he has left."

"Not true," Aiden called down, taking a step towards him, "His sister is alive you bastards didn't get her."

"I think you should talk to Vance," the man said, lowering his gun, "then you will understand."

"I'm keeping my weapons," Aiden said, defiantly.

"Be my guest," the man said irritably, "just don't go waving them around in there." Aiden watched the man very carefully, watching him for any sign of movement, as he walked by and opened the gate. When he was through, he broke in a jog, hoping to get as far away from him as possible.

Aiden entered a door further down the tunnel, which led, surprisingly, to another tunnel. He looked left, saw a bunch of rubble, looked right, and saw what looked like a community. _Here we go._ He placed his hand into his pocket, his hand clenched tightly around his switchblade.

"Welcome, you must be new to the Family," one of the vampires said to him when he got there, "I'm new here myself."

"Amazing, where's Vance?" Aiden said, watching the other man's hands carefully.

"He's up there," the man pointed, "looking out over us." Aiden looked up, and saw a man in a duster staring out over all of them. His eyes, at the moment, seemed to be fixated on Aiden. _He knows I'm not one of them. He knows. _Clenching his switchblade, if even possible, even more tightly, he ascended the stairs and found himself face to face with Vance.

"Greetings," Vance said, in a calm, charismatic voice. "What brings you down here, human."

"I'm here for Ian West," he said, looking into Vance's eyes.

"I'm afraid that's not an option. Ian is very troubled at the moment," Vance said, "When he comes to a decision though, I will inform you immediately."

"You think I'm going to stay here? I'm leaving, and I'm taking Ian with me," Aiden said, watching Vance carefully, incase he decided to attack.

"That is out of the question," Vance said, in his same smooth voice, "No one is to talk to or see Ian right now."

"I will do anything to get him out of here," He said in a threatening tone, "I don't care who get hurts as long as I get him out."

"Really? You think you can take on all of us," Vance said, bemused. "If it comes down to it, you may fight me, but you will not hurt my Flock." A woman came walking out of the shadows in the corners of the room.

"Ah, Holly you're up," Vance said, smiling.

"You're still dealing with me here," Aiden said, annoyed.

"We? We're running circles in a race that's already finished," Vance said, looking back at him. "You may talk to Ian when he has come up with his decision."

"What decision?" Aiden asked, his hands gripped so tightly his nails were digging in his palms. Vance was really starting to get on his nerves.

"If he will stay here with us," Vance replied, watching Aiden closely. "For whom are you here for? Surely not those fools from Arefu?"

"Yes… Well no… Not really," Aiden said, taken aback. "It doesn't matter who sent me here, does it?"

"Oh, but it does. Your eyes, I see love in them. While your whole body is surging with anger, your eyes instead burn with passion," Vance said, in a very charming way, lowering Aiden's guard. "Ah yes, who is she? A cousin of Ian's, a friend, or does he indeed still have a close living relative? A sister, perhaps?"

"How do you do that…?" Aiden asked, clearly caught off guard.

"Ah yes, a sister. Your eyes tell it all. There is much love in there," Vance said, smiling at Aiden. "What does she want? Does she want him back, even now being what he has?"

"She doesn't know he's here. I came to Arefu to see why they weren't answering her letters," Aiden said. Vance's eyes flickered with pain.

"That is my fault, my Flock sometimes can't control themselves… The letters probably never made it. I'm sorry, I truly am," Vance said with his eyes shut. Aiden had no doubt that he actually was truly sorry. It was something about his voice, it was filled with sorrow and pain.

"I have to get Ian out of here, he's all she has left," Aiden said, looking down.

"What of you? Does she not have you? You who would traverse the very wastes for her, risking life and limb just to see the end of her unhappiness?" Vance asked, taking a step towards Aiden. _She doesn't have you. You're a coward, you ran from her. Any old excuse to get out of Megaton and solve your own problems. You have no regard for her feelings. Hell, you left without telling her._

"Shut up…" Aiden whispered very quietly.

"What was that?" Vance asked, leaning forward to hear him better. _She lies alone in Megaton, while your miles away fulfilling your own needs. You didn't need answers from Rivet City, you're just weak. You saw the way she looked at you, the love, the desire. You saw her cry and you still did nothing. _His heart was beating furiously now, screaming out to his head.

"I am doing this for her, this is the only family she has left," Aiden said even more quietly. His heart calmed down slightly.

"You are conflicted," Vance said now right beside him, whispering into his ear. Aiden could feel the tears welling up inside his eyes, but he remained silent.

"You are filled with love for her, don't ever believe otherwise. I can see it; your eyes practically scream it. You love her, and you are here for her," Vance continued on, now standing so close to Aiden that he could feel Vance's body heat. "You're still a boy, I'm surprised you made it this far, but that's the power of love, I guess. I wish with every fiber of my being that I could let you talk to Ian right now, but in his current state it would only do damage."

"I need to talk to her…" Aiden said, very slowly.

"Indeed, well come over here, we shall record a holotape for her. I will have one of my Flock deliver it for you, and he will ensure you get one in return," Vance said very softly. He led Aiden to a secluded corner and sat him down at a table, leaving him with his thoughts and a holotape. He hit record.

"Lucy," his voice cracked, he choked back his tears. "I'm sorry, you're family is dead. It was… an animal attack. You're brother is safe though, he's with… friends. I'm here with them, too. Ian is… asleep right now, but I will talk to him soon. Lucy, hold on, I'll be home soon. I miss you…" He stopped talking, as tears flowed freely down his face.

"I love you," He added, very softly, at the very end, and his heart leapt. He stopped recording, and he soon found Vance standing right behind him.

"She'll be touched, I'm sure," Vance said.

"You were listening?" Aiden said, clearly affronted.

"I'm sorry, I had no choice. I couldn't let you send out a tape that would worry or scare her. You did admirably though, I doubt I could have said it any better," Vance smiled at him. "I thank you, too, for you showed much love for my Flock. You didn't slander them at all. Most people would easily hate who we are."

"I did," Aiden said looking up at Vance, "I thought you were all animals, but after talking to you, it's clear you are far from it. Why did you kill her family?"

"That," Vance sighed, "is something I can not tell you. You shall learn everything when you talk to Ian. Now come, you look exhausted." Vance led Aiden to a bed and held out a hand to it.

"Sleep, and when you awake, we shall eat," Vance smiled. "Real food. Potatoes and the such. Not you." Vance added hastily, seeing the look on Aiden's face. Aiden lie down on the bed, and Vance brought the blankets over him, almost in a fatherly fashion.

"Sleep well, child," Vance whispered and walked away.

"They're not too bad, this Family," Aiden whispered as his eyes shut and he found the world drift away again.


	12. So That's What Cannibals Do For Fun!

"Doctor, he's waking up!" A female voice shouted out as his eyes slowly slid open. There was the sound of much scrambling and he could hear feet pounding across the floor, coming closer. A hand slid into his and gripped it tightly.

"You scared us, Aiden," a female voice said, sounding as if a great weight had just been lifted.

"Sorry?" He mumbled, "I thought I was being funny…"

"This isn't the time for jokes," the female voice said, her hand shaking slightly. Aiden's eyes slid back into focus, though he still felt groggy. He looked over and saw a very tired Lucy sitting beside him, and Church was standing directly behind her, a clipboard in his hand.

"Lucy? Where am I?" he said, feeling alarmed now.

"You're in the clinic, Lucas and Jericho dragged you here, speaking of which," she turned and looked at a man leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, "Jericho, go tell Lucas he's awake." The man looked up, and walked silently out of the room.

"Happy sort of guy, isn't he?" Aiden said, pushing himself half up. Lucy pushed him back down.

"If not for him, you wouldn't be here. Even with Church keeping a constant eye on you, you almost never made it. There were times when we really thought we lost you, you were so pale…" Lucy said, looking down at the floor.

"How are you feeling?" Church asked.

"Broken," Aiden shook his head. "You sure I ain't dead, Doc?" Lucy's grip tightened on his hand.

"Statistically, you should be. There was a 34 percent chance of you pulling through, and well, here you are," Church chuckled, "you're a god damn miracle."

"I always thought miracles would feel better than this," he gave a dry laugh. "Any idea how I did it?"

"Well, every morning I was surprised to see your heart was still beating. However, whenever Lucy showed up you always got stronger. I'm 97 percent positive if not for her, you'd be a corpse," Church said, writing on his clipboard.

"I see," he said looking over at Lucy, who was adamantly avoiding his eye. Her face was a furious shade of red, and Aiden smiled slightly. "How's Bishop?" The atmosphere in the room changed suddenly. Everyone went quiet, and avoided Aiden's eye.

"He's dead, Aiden. He died yesterday, he told us to thank you… He was hoping you would wake up before he died." Church said, a distinct strain of sadness in his voice.

"How long have I been out…?" Aiden said, the news of Bishops death settling very heavily in his chest.

"Three days," Church said, "Today being the third." Aiden swallowed dryly.

"What time is it?" He asked, looking over at the wall.

"Around eight o' clock at night." Church said, looking at his watch. "The funeral for Bishop is tomorrow."

"I want to be there when they bury him," Aiden said, looking up at Church. "I'm going to be there."

"Lucy already argued that for you," Church said, shaking his head. "It could kill you."

"I'm going," Aiden said in a tone that just dared anyone to say otherwise.

"Okay, but you need your rest," Church said pulling out a needle, "This should help. Do you want Lucy to stay here with you?" Aiden looked over at Lucy, who was still staring down, tears splashing onto the floor.

"Yes," Aiden said, squeezing Lucy's hand tightly. "Yes, I do." Lucy squeezed back as the needle broke Aiden's skin. He heard Lucy give one last sob and everything turned to black again.

When he awoke again, he was in a much darker place. He could sense someone standing nearby, and he bolted upright.

"Troubled dreams?" the familiar smooth voice of Vance cut through the silence. Aiden looked over and saw Vance leaning up against the wall, looking at Aiden quite intently.

"You could say that, were you just watching me sleep?" Aiden asked.

"Holly said you were muttering in your sleep and she wanted me to come check on you," Vance said standing up straight. "What's troubling you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," He lied. "Just a bad dream."

"Okay," Vance said with a smile that screamed he knew Aiden was lying. "Are you hungry?" Aiden hadn't eaten for at least a day, and his stomach was growling fiercely.

"I could do with some food," He said, getting up out of the bed.

"Excellent, as luck would have it, Holly is just finishing up," Vance said, leading Aiden down the stairs to the long table sitting in the middle of the room. "Sit down, please." Aiden sat down at one of the corners of the table, and Vance sat at the head of the table, right beside Aiden. Within a few minutes, the rest of the Family had slowly taken up seats up and down the table.

"Hello again, one and all," Vance stood up, smiling. "As you see, we have a guest amongst us. Please, I ask everyone to make him feel as welcome as possible." Aiden felt nervous, as every head at the table turned to look at him.

"Please, by all means, introduce yourself," Vance said beckoning Aiden to stand up.

"I'm Aiden," he said nervously, with a small wave. After standing for a few seconds, his eyes looking around the room, he sat down. The man next to him turned and shook his hand.

"I'm Justin," he said, smiling warmly.

"Hi," Aiden had barely managed to say when a woman across the table leaned to him.

"Hi, I'm Brianna, your really cute," she said, winking. Aiden sat looking dumbfounded; he was flabbergasted that a vampire had just hit on him.

"Now now, Brianna, we musn't tempt young Aiden," Vance said, his eyes twinkling. "His heart already belongs to someone else."

"Awe, that's no fun," she said, sitting back in her chair and looking pouty with her arms folded across her chest. Aiden gave a small smile of thanks to Vance, and Vance smiled warmly back. All across the table, the Family was having conversations amongst themselves. Holly showed up a few minutes later, rubbing her hands together.

"Okay, dinner is ready, I'm going to need a few people to help bring it to the table," She said smiling at everyone. Aiden was the first to stand up and volunteer. She placed a hand lovingly on one of Aiden's cheeks. "You don't have to help, you are our guest."

"Please, I insist," he said. "If I'm going to be here I might as well be useful." Justin stood up as well as one of the Family members sitting farthest away from Aiden.

"Vance, don't you think you should take some food to our other guest?" Holly asked, leading the three volunteers to the kitchen.

"Ah, right you are as always Holly, dear," Vance said, following them all to the kitchen. Aiden grabbed a big pot of what looked to be squirrel stew, Justin grabbed a large tray of iguana-on-a-stick, and the other Family member grabbed a large box of Nuka-Cola. Vance grabbed a tray and took some stew, iguana, and a Nuka-Cola.

"Thank you, all of you," Vance smiled at each of them, and walked to the stairs. The rest of them brought the food to the table and set it down. Holly brought the plates and bowls out, and handed one to each Family member, and Aiden.

"Thank you," he whispered as she handed his to him, and she smiled and nodded her head at him.

"Justin, can you get our guest some food?" Holly asked.

"Of course, Holly," Justin turned to look at Aiden, "What do you want, stew, iguana, or both?"

"Uh, I'll have both I guess," Aiden said.

"Good choice," Justin winked at him, "Holly is an amazing cook."

"I'm not THAT good," Holly said, and Aiden could see a red tinge in her cheeks.

"She's just being modest," Justin whispered to him, handing Aiden his food. Aiden took a bite of the stew and had to admit he agreed with Justin. This was some of the best food he had ever tasted in his life.

"This is amazing," He said, taking another bite.

"Thank you, dear," Holly said, smiling from ear to ear.

"My dear Holly is the best cook in the Wastes," Vance said, suddenly appearing behind her chair. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on her cheek, which only made her blush more. "It smells wonderful tonight."

The rest of dinner went exceptionally well. All throughout the station, the sounds of forks and knives clinking on plates, friends talking to friends, and laughter could be heard echoing off the walls. Justin turned out to be really friendly, and he and Aiden were fast becoming friends.

"So you really lived in one of those Vaults? How was it?" Justin asked sounding amazed.

"Well, it was good, but it was also a living hell. You never had to worry much there, but as I grew older, life just got harder and duller. They tell you what your going to do for the rest of your life, based on a test," Aiden said, trying to ignore Brianna, whom he could see staring at him out of the corner of his eye.

"That sounds stupid, how could a test determine what your gonna do?" Justin asked, shaking his head.

"I don't know, they said I was going to be a tattoo artist," Aiden shrugged.

"That's cool," Justin said, leaning back in his chair. "I mean, that's cooler than most jobs would be."

"I guess so," Aiden said. "What do you do for fun around here?"

"We tell stories, play chess, drink, and uh spar," Justin said, screwing up his face in concentration.

"I see," Aiden said. "Where's Vance?"

"Probably where he always is," Justin pointed up to the platform overlooking the station, "watching over us."

"I need to go talk to him," Aiden stood up and traveled over to Vance.

"Hello, Aiden," Vance said without looking at him.

"Hello, Vance, how is Ian?" Aiden leaned on the railing beside Vance, looking out over the station as well.

"Troubled still, though I expect he'll decide soon," Vance looked over at Aiden. "I told him there was someone here to see him."

"You don't think that will make him rush?" Aiden asked.

"He's been in there awhile now, I don't think any decision he will make will have been rushed," Vance sighed. "Sometimes, I feel like I'm just not making a difference."

"What do you mean?" Aiden asked, looking at Vance quizzically.

"Well, Aiden, what would you call us?" Vance shut his eyes and let his head hang down a little.

"I don't know. Vampires?" Aiden said.

"Everyone here is a cannibal, Aiden. They eat human flesh. I'm trying to teach them to only drink the blood from their victims," Vance said, eyes still shut. Aiden shivered to think cannibals surrounded him. "It's hard to do so, the hunger is very powerful. I have been living off blood and not flesh for a long time now. It's easy for me, but for many of these people, it's the hardest thing they have ever done."

"I knew vampires couldn't be real," Aiden muttered, shaking his head. He looked over at Vance; he seemed so weak right now. Holly again came walking out of the shadows and placed her arms around Vance.

"Vance… you're doing a good thing. Without you these people would be dead or trying to survive the Wastes. You gave them a home, a family, and friends. You showed them there are people like them," Aiden could just hear Holly whisper into Vance's ear. Vance turned to look at her and Aiden could see strength returning to his face.

"Holly, dearest, wherever would I be without you? These people look to me to lead them, but indeed, you are the strength that holds us all together," Vance smiled, and together Holly and he pressed their lips together, leaving Aiden red in the face and staring at the floor, shifting his weight uncomfortably. After a few seconds, Vance and Holly pulled away, and Holly walked away looking as red in the face as Aiden.

"Forgive me, Aiden, sometimes the weight of all this crashes down on me quite heavily. What is it you came to see me about?" Vance asked, in his usual calm demeanor.

"I forget," Aiden said. "You know Vance, they can be there for you as much as you are for them. Instead of carrying them all on your back, you could use their strength."

"Quite insightful Aiden," Vance mumbled thoughtfully, "quite insightful, indeed."

"If they look up to you as much as you believe, they will do whatever they can to help. If you saved them, I believe they'll be here for you forever," Aiden said, staring back out over the station.

"Indeed, you are quite young Aiden, but your mind is one that has traveled a great distance, a distance more than your body I might say," Vance said appreciatively.

"Do you know when I will hear from Lucy?" Aiden asked, feeling a pit deep in his stomach.

"It should be soon, I sent the fastest person I could," Vance smiled, looking Aiden up and down. "I remember when I first met Holly." Vance's eyes glassed over, and Aiden had a feeling he knew what he was thinking about.

"I see great things for you, Aiden," Vance said, moments later. "You're welcome here anytime."

"Thank you," Aiden said. The two men looked out over the station for several seconds.

"I believe Justin is missing you," Vance chuckled. They both looked over the railing and saw Justin drumming his fingers on the table, his head propped up by his other hand. Every time someone passed he would look up, only to look back down, disappointed. "Justin is new here, he arrived only a few weeks ago. He hasn't quite settled in yet, in fact, you're the only person I've ever seen him hold a prolonged conversation with."

"I guess I'll take my leave of you, Vance," Aiden said, and began to walk back towards the stairs.

"Aiden, watch out for Brianna, she seems to have taken a liking to you," Vance said, caution in his voice. Aiden flashed him a weak grin, and began his descent down the stairs. Moments later, he found himself standing in front of Justin.

"Oh, you're back, what's up?" Justin asked, trying to sound casual.

"Nothing. You haven't seen Brianna, have you?" Aiden said, looking left and right.

"No, why?" Justin replied.

"Thank god. Come on, let's have a game of chess," Aiden smiled and took a seat opposite Justin. They played for almost an hour, Aiden only managed to win once out of four games.

"No more," Justin said, boredom in his voice. "I can't stand beating you so bad."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Aiden asked, slightly amused, slightly annoyed.

"Let's go to the Wastes," Justin suggested, a wide grin on his face and his eyes flashing.

"Uh, sure, why?" Aiden asked.

"There's always something to do out there, come on," Justin jumped up and began to run to the exit. Aiden followed him closely, and within minutes, they found themselves in the cool night air. The moon hung round and luminescent in the cloudless sky. Stars dotted the sky like paint splashed on a blank canvas, stretching as far as the eye could see.

"What do you want to do?" Aiden asked, feeling the peace all around him.

"I know a place," Justin said, "The view is amazing, come on."

They walked on for what felt like hours, but just as easily could have been five minutes. There was no dialogue exchanged between the two, both opting to walk on in silence. _Lucy… what are you doing right now?_ Aiden shut tight his eyes, and tried to picture Lucy. It was late at night, and in his minds eye, he could see Lucy asleep on her bed. _Is this what your doing? Are you asleep? Are you dreaming of me? Or do you lie awake; counting every second I'm gone? Have you forgotten me already? Will my holotape mean nothing? Lucy…Hold on._

"We're here," Justin said, barely hiding the excitement in his voice. Aiden opened his eyes and he found himself standing in front of a hastily built shed. One whole wall was missing, having fallen over, and the rest were leaning menacingly. The view was amazing though, and Aiden found himself lost in the beauty and calm of the night air.

"Hey, handsome," Aiden felt a finger run down his chest. He turned around hastily and saw Brianna standing there, grinning from ear to ear.

"What are you doing here?" Aiden asked, looking from Brianna to Justin, who stared hungrily back at him.

"Eating," she replied, licking her lips. She pounced at Aiden, catching him off guard, and he toppled backwards. She pinned his arms down with her knees, and leaned in close to his neck. She breathed in heavily, and shuddered.

"You smell delicious, I've been denied a feast like this for a long time," She smiled, and ran her tongue up Aiden's face.

"What the hell, Justin?" Aiden asked, resisting the urge to throw up.

"Brianna promised me something Vance never could, meat, not the blood. I could never thrive off something like that, Vance is pathetic," Justin replied, shaking his head. Aiden felt something very cold pressed up against his neck. He breathed in sharply, and glanced down as far as he could without moving his head. He saw a handle in Brianna's hand, a blade attached to the end.

"This will hurt," Brianna smiled. "Don't worry though, you'll bleed out in about ten minutes." She laughed wickedly, and just for fun, drove the blade deep into Aiden's left hand, pinning him down. Aiden screamed in anguish, and attempted to grab the knife. Brianna stepped on his other hand, the heel of her shoe digging into his palm.

"I'll kill you, both of you," Aiden whispered through gritted teeth, tears pooling in his eyes. The other two laughed sharply, and Brianna began to grind her heel into Aiden's palm. He screamed even harder, and Brianna laughed even harder, spite ringing out with laugh.

"Let's see how you like this," She whispered and pulled the blade out of Aiden's hand. He rolled over holding his hand, which was bleeding very heavily.

"Your pathetic," she laughed. "You can't do anything." Brianna never got to find out how wrong she was, as Aiden sprang to his feet and drove his switchblade through the bottom of her head, up through her mouth, and stopped just short of her brain. She fell back, dead instantly. Justin, though taken by surprise, recovered almost instantly, and lunged at Aiden with another blade. He managed to side step it, though the knife made a huge incision on the same arm with the already bleeding hand. With tears in his eyes, he grabbed the shotgun off his back, pointed it at Justin one handed, and fired. His shoulder was wrenched from the socket, but Justin's head separated from his body. Or at least a thousand different pieces of his head did.

"Bastards," Aiden mumbled and he fell to his knees, one arm bleeding heavily, the other hanging limp by his side. He slumped backwards, and gazed up at the night sky once more. He could hear voices all around him as his body slipped into unconsciousness.


	13. A Brother's Rage

The sun beat heavily down on Aiden's face, causing his newly opened eyes to squint. He was moving forward, not of his own free will though, as his legs weren't moving. Hell, he wasn't even upright. He pushed himself up off his moving bed and slid to the ground, where his legs gave out and he was immediately sprawled over on the ground. _A graceful a landing as any I suppose._ Immediately, a set of arms was pulling him up to his feet.

"You alright there?" a male voice asked.

"Been better," he muttered. "Where am I?"

"We're about a day away from Canterbury Commons, I need to go re-stock my supplies," the voice said, "Name is Doc Hoff."

"Aiden," Aiden replied. Now that Aiden was up and on his feet, the Caravan started moving again.

"So, what happened between you, the girl, and that guy?" Doc Hoff asked.

"They were going to eat me," Aiden laughed. Seeing as how he had made it, the whole ordeal now seemed ridiculous.

"Like, cannibals?" Hoff asked.

"Yeah," Aiden said. "Exactly like cannibals."

"Alright, I scavenged what I could from them, you can take what you want," Hoff said.

"I just want my shotgun and switchblade," Aiden said, trying to reach out his right arm. His whole body screamed in agony, and he pressed his left hand to his shoulder, which only served to provide more pain.

"Whoa, slow down there," Hoff said, grabbing a needle out of his bag. He stuck into Aiden's left arm and pressed down.

"That hardly helped," Aiden grunted, which was true, as his whole right arm was still screaming out in protest.

"Well look, you won't be using that arm for awhile, your hand should be usable in a couple of days," Hoff said.

"Fantastic, can you tell me where Rivet City is from here?" Aiden asked. Even after everything, he still felt driven to find it.

"It's due south of here, my route takes me there. I'll stay with you at Canterbury Commons until your hand is usable, but then we're going," Hoff said.

"Thanks," Aiden said, "I'm sorry if that's a bother at all to you."

"It is. But whatever, Canterbury Commons is one of my favorite places to be. It's safe, fun, and very relaxing," Hoff said, shrugging his shoulders. "Someone dropped something off for you."

"Hmm? What?" Aiden asked, looking at him.

"Yeah, some weirdo," Hoff said, digging in his bag. He extracted two holotapes and handed them to Aiden, who pressed them between his index finger and thumb, being careful not to move his palm. "We're going to stop here for the night, we should be in the Commons tomorrow by noon."

Within a half hour, they had the campsite all set up. Three sleeping bags were rolled out around a warm, crackling fire. Hoff and the caravan guard were both sitting looking into the fire. Aiden, however, sat a few yards away, with both holotapes laid out in front of him. _One is from Lucy, I'm sure of it. But who is the other one from._

_"Aiden," _a smooth, calm voice rang out from the first one he pressed play on,_ "I'm sorry to hear about Brianna and Justin. I sincerely hope that you will not judge the rest because of two people's selfish actions. I arrived shortly after you collapsed, and this fine man you are traveling with had already tended to your wounds. I regret not arriving in time to prevent you from being wounded. I would suggest you come back with us, as it is better to sleep comfortably when so weak than to travel the wastes, but with the smell of blood, I'm afraid some of the newer members may indeed take the Path of the Selfish. My offer remains on the table that you're always welcome here. I'll have my eye on you."_

Aiden sat in silence for a short while after listening to his holotape. _Vance always knows. How does he always know? There is definitely something not right about that guy._

_"Aiden," _It was Lucy's voice this time. _"Megaton is an uproar after what you did at Moriarty's. Half the town is siding with him, and the other half are talking about you almost as if you're a hero. The Moriarty half are getting really upset that Lucas just let you walk away. It might get violent soon, though I don't think they would really stand a chance. They're all a bunch of drunks. Jenny, Moira, Church, Lucas, Jericho, and all those others we played ball with though, they believe you are a good person. I really hope it doesn't come down to violence…I'm saddened, to hear about my parents, but I'm glad my brother's okay and that your with him. As long as you're there, I have a feeling that he will be alright as long as you are with him, so please stay there as long as you can. A really weird guy showed up in Megaton yesterday, his name is Mr. Burke. He is really creepy. I hope you come home soon, Aiden. I miss you."_

"Ha, me, a hero," Aiden laughed. His heart, however, felt hollow and alone. He thought that to hear Lucy's voice would make it easier, but the whole trip now looked impossible without her by his side. He carefully placed both holotapes in his pack and made his way over to the fire. Hoff and the guard both looked up but Aiden hardly noticed.

"Something wrong?" Hoff asked him.

"No, not really," Aiden replied, gazing deep into the fire.

"We're going to sleep in turns, there are some weird things happening in this area," the guard said. "People have been disappearing without a trace."

_Disappearing. Gob. Where the hell did you go?_

"I'll take first watch," Aiden volunteered, "I spent most of the day asleep anyway."

"Look at your hands boy, what would you do if something attacked us? Scream at it 'til it dies? No, I'll take first shift," Hoff said. Aiden sat down; clearly affronted, deep down he knew what Hoff said was true. He was almost entirely useless in a situation like this. The Wastes were entirely quiet save the soft crackling of their fire and the light snores of the Caravan Guard.

"My friend disappeared a little bit back, do you have any idea what's causing them?" Aiden asked, gazing into the depths of the fire.

"I have ideas and theories," Hoff replied.

"What are they?" Aiden asked, looking over at Hoff Briefly.

"I've heard tales of a group of people who have technology far superior to the Brotherhood," Hoff began.

"The Brotherhood?" Aiden interjected.

"Shut it, boy, I'm talking. Word is, these people ride in on great mechanical birds, take what they want and leave no trace of ever existing. I've heard that they have torched whole settlements for not cooperating." Hoff finished.

"That's weird…" Aiden said.

"Weird? That's down right frightening, boy." Hoff said, looking at Aiden as if he were stupid.

"Well then…" Aiden started, but Hoff held his hand up for silence.

"Put that fire out," Hoff said very suddenly after a few seconds, and he ran to wake the guard up. Aiden began to kick dirt over the fire and it extinguished quickly.

"Hurry, behind that hill!" Hoff whispered quickly running towards a hill, followed closely by the guard. Aiden stumbled over the hill just as a group of four people arrived at the camp site.

"I'm telling you I heard voices," a rough voice said.

"I think your losing it," a second voice said, higher than the first. This was followed by a bout of short crackling.

"Shut it," the other voice said, and two of the figures began to scuffle in the dirt.

"Do you think these are the one's making people disappear?" Aiden asked, worriedly.

"Did they ride in on a mechanical bird? Does it look like they could start a fire let alone burn down a whole settlement? You need to think before you open your mouth," Hoff said, looking at him. Aiden scowled and turned to look back at the scene unfolding in front of him. After several minutes of this, Hoff spoke up again.

"Take them out, Bish," he muttered. The guard slowly pulled out a large sniper rifle fitted with a silencer, and pointed it carefully at the group. After a few seconds, he fired off four quick shots, and the people dropped to the ground, moving no more. On inspection of the bodies, the trio deduced that these were not raiders, but instead, just a group of Wastelanders completely unarmed.

"So… we just killed innocent people?" Aiden asked, feeling sick to his stomach. _What if they were just here looking for food, or supplies, or anything at all? What if they were just after a safe place to sleep?_

"No one is innocent, and you will do well to remember that," Hoff said, rummaging through the pockets of the Wastelanders.

"They didn't do anything to us," Aiden said heatedly.

"Because Bish put them down before they had a chance," Hoff said, standing up straight, having taken anything of value from the corpses. Aiden glared at Hoff in silence, completely consumed by rage. _Lucky that my hands are out of commission or I would bury this guy where he stands._

"Bish, I'm going to sleep, you take the watch now," Hoff said laying in one of the sleeping bags. The minutes dragged by in silence until an hour passed.

"How could you do that?" Aiden asked, breathing heavily.

"It's easy, you pull the trigger and don't think about it. If you think too much, you'll drown yourself. You just need to focus on what's coming and forget about what's already gone," The guard said.

"They were unarmed!" Aiden said, his voice rising.

"We didn't know that, and I don't feel like dying. I got a brother waiting for me in Megaton," The guard said without emotion.

_ Bish. Bishop? Is this guy's name Bishop?_

"Bishop?" Aiden asked, slowly.

"That's my name, Joseph Bishop," Bishop said, looking over at him. "My brother is Johnathan, though everyone just calls us Bishop."

"He's dead," Aiden said.

"What!?" Bishop said, standing up.

"He died a couple weeks ago," Aiden said, looking up at Bishop. "I tried to save him but… he died. It was a Raider attack."

Bishop said nothing, he just stormed over to Hoff and picked him up with one hand.

"Why didn't you tell me my brother was dead?" He growled, holding up the skinny Hoff very easily.

"Er… I didn't know your brother was dead," Hoff said very uncomfortably, avoiding Bishop's eyes.

"LIAR!" Bishop bellowed, tossing Hoff several feet. Hoff lay on the ground, clearly winded. Bishop crouched over top of him, and pulled Hoff back to his feet.

"You get news everyday! From all corners of the Wastes! Of course you would hear!" Bishop yelled, slamming Hoff's head into the ground. Aiden stared in stunned silence.

"It must.. have slipped.. my mind.." Hoff said, struggling to breathe. Bishop let out one last scream of rage and brought his boot down hard on Hoff's head. There was a sickening squelch and Aiden turned away. The two stood in silence, Bishop breathing irregularly.

"What now?" Aiden asked, quite uncomfortably.

"We carry onto Canterbury Commons, you can tell me how my brother died," Bishop said, grabbing the reins to the supply Brahmin.


	14. Drunken Lullabies

"I see, then I owe you a great deal for laying down your life for someone you just met," Bishop said, his voice cracking. It was a strange sight, seeing this tough guy with tears in his eyes.

"I wish I could have saved him," Aiden said softly.

"I believe you," Bishop said, looking over at him. "I don't know why, but there is just something sincere about you."

"Uh… thanks?" Aiden said, quite unsure of what to say.

"You laid your life down for my brother, I shall do the same for you," Bishop said resolutely.

"You don't want to do that," Aiden said shaking his head. "People around me just seem to die."

"Well then, my debt will be paid very soon then," Bishop said, smiling.

"Your debt? Your brother is dead and I'm not. How is there a debt?" Aiden said, taken aback.

"The simple fact is you risked your life to save him, now don't think so much about this because there are always more troublesome matters to slow you down," Bishop said, back to his emotionless voice.

_What is up with this guy? He's a real card._

"When will we be at Canterbury?" Aiden asked.

"We're going straight to Rivet City," Bishop said. "You wanted to go there, and you're in charge here."

"What?! Why do I have to be in charge? You're the six foot four killer!" Aiden shouted.

"Exactly, I'm the muscle. I can't be the brain too, that would be redundant, so you're the brain. Lighten up." Bishop chuckled.

Aiden stared at Bishop's back for several long seconds before Bishop turned around again.

"Coming, boss? We won't get there by not moving," He called over his shoulder. Aiden shook his head and jogged quickly to catch up with him. They walked on for several days, talking very little, until they reached Rivet City.

"Well, here we are," Bishop said, standing before a ruined aircraft carrier.

"Uh? Where is it?" Aiden asked, looking left and right.

"Right there, inside the ship," Bishop pointed at the ship.

"Whoa!" Aiden exclaimed. The duo unpacked the supplies from the Brahmin and began to ascend several flights of stairs until they were level with the middle of the ship.

"Who goes there?" A voice crackled through an intercom.

"It's Bish, and my new friend Aiden," Bishop said, leaning over to speak into the intercom.

"The bridge is extending, please step back," the intercom crackled into silence. Within moments, the duo was crossing the bridge to the city, and, when they reached the end, they stopped to talk to the voice at the end of the intercom.

"Bishop, how the hell you been?" The guard asked.

"I'm fine Shep, how you been?" Bishop replied.

"It's been terrible, we lost two thirds of our security force in a raid last week," the guard said, shaking his head. "Who's your friend?"

"This here is Aiden, Aiden this is Shephard. Alexei Shephard." Bishop said. Aiden shook Shephard's hand, but said nothing.

"He shy?" Shephard chuckled. "Where's Hoff at?"

"He went into early retirement," Bishop said slowly.

"That's a shame, we're going to miss his supplies, even if he did make us pay through the nose for them," Shephard sighed.

"I got them all right here," Bishop said, dropping several bags.

"What did you do Bishop?" Shephard asked, astounded by the quantity of supplies.

"Took a little retirement bonus," Bishop chuckled. "Think there's a place for me and Ace here to crash?"

"Ace? He look's more like a two of spades, and that's if he's lucky," Shephard laughed. "Ya, people here know you Bishop, you can probably get a room anywhere. You should probably do the talking though, you don't want _Ace_ here opening his mouth at the wrong time."

"Watch it, man. Ace here is a killer and a survivor. He has seen some shit, so watch yourself," Bishop chuckled again. "I'll see you at the Muddy Rudder later, eh?"

"For sure, I'm sure the entire boat will buy you a round! You gave us a couple months worth of supplies, for free above all," Shephard said appreciatively.

"It was Ace here, who actually got them from Hoff, so you owe him," Bishop said.

"I'll never say a bad word against the kid," Shephard said, giving a small bow to Aiden.

"We need to go now, I'll see you later," Bishop said. Shephard just waved him away.

"Ace?" Aiden asked when they were out of earshot.

"It's going to sound stupid, but you're going to need a nickname that may sound a little tough, so people don't fuck with you here," Bishop said.

"It seems safe enough," Aiden said.

"Sure, but at night, this place is a vicious place. No one messes with security, but they can't be everywhere at once," Bishop said again. "Come on, this way."

Aiden looked around the room they had just entered. A sign above the desk read "The Weatherly Hotel"

"Bishop," The woman behind the desk greeted him warmly.

"Vera, how have you been?" Bishop said, smiling at her.

"I'm good, so who's the lucky girl tonight?" She asked slyly.

"It's nothing like that," Bishop chuckled," I need a room for my friend Ace here."

"He's going to be popular among the girls in Rivet City," Vera said, eyeing him up and down. Aiden felt his face burn red, and he looked away.

"Well here you go," She said, handing the key to Bishop.

"I'm going to need my own room though," Bishop added with a wink.

"I'll get your usual," Vera said, and handed him a second key.

Bishop lead Aiden down a hall way and stopped in front of a shut door.

"This is your room," Bishop said, "Mine is just two down. Come to me if anyone gives you trouble."

"Sure," Aiden said. "We might be here awhile."

"Vera won't mind," Bishop said. "Though we're probably going to end up working for caps then."

"Where would we work?" Aiden asked.

"Probably security. Shep has been riding my ass to join for a while now and that will shut him up," Bishop said exasperatedly. "I'm going to my room, I'll meet you in five."

"Okay," Aiden said and unlocked his door with little difficulty, as he could now bend his left hand. The room wasn't too bad. It was small, but he didn't have a lot of stuff so it wasn't a big issue. He kicked his pack under the bed, and sat down. _I'm here. What do I do now? There has got to be something. Lucy…what are you doing? Gob… Where the hell did you go? _

"Busy?" Bishop's voice startled Aiden out of his thoughts. He stood in the doorway looking… clean. His untidy black hair was slicked back and he was out of his dirty armor and into a clean pair of clothes.

"Not overly, why?" Aiden asked.

"You looked like you were thinking pretty hard. What did I tell you?" Bishop said, bemusedly.

"I don't know. You told me a lot," Aiden sighed.

"Thinking too much will only weigh you down, drown you. Let's go have fun. Save you from yourself," Bishop chuckled.

"You're weird," Aiden said.

"How do you figure?" Bishop asked.

"You found out your brother died, and it barely phased you, save the fact you killed someone for not telling you. You kill without emotion and here you are laughing and smiling, like you didn't murder four defenceless people!" Aiden fumed.

"My brother died, it happens, I'm sad I hurt but what will thinking about it do? My thoughts won't materialize and bring my brother back. I kill so I don't get killed, and even though I do I'm still human. I feel joy, sorrow, pain, and anger. I feel everything," Bishop said. "You're even weirder."

"What?" Aiden asked.

"You're some kid, travelling the Wastes. I found you with two dead cannibals. You're full of fear but you pull off some pretty heroic acts from what I could see. Some guy shows up and gives Hoff two tapes for you. This guy was a real character, and just by the fact that you seem to know him pretty well is really weird," Bishop said.

"Oh," Aiden said, dumbfounded.

"Come on, we're going out," Bishop said, and disappeared from the doorway. Aiden stared at the empty doorway for several seconds before getting up and following. Several minutes later, he found himself sitting at a counter at the Muddy Rudder.

"What do you want?" Bishop leaned over.

"What is there?" Aiden asked.

"Anything," Bishop replied. Aiden just stared at him blankly.

"Alcohol. Anything alcohol. You know, vodka, scotch, whiskey, beer? The fun stuff?" Bishop said. Aiden just continued to stare, unsure of what Bishop was talking about.

"Okay… Vodka it is," Bishop said slowly, raising his eyebrows. "Belle, a bottle of vodka over here, and two shot glasses!" The bartender slid a bottle of vodka over to him, followed by two small glasses. Bishop filled the glasses to the brim and smiled at Aiden.

"Bottoms up," he said, gulping back the vodka and slamming the glass on the counter. "Ahhhhh, that's the good stuff." Aiden stared at the clear liquid in his cup for several seconds. The smell of it made him feel sick, but he tipped the contents down his throat. His chest immediately felt like it was on fire and he collapsed into a coughing fit.

"It gets easier, don't worry about it," Bishop said, refilling the glasses. When Aiden finished coughing, he looked up at Bishop.

"That was awful," he grimaced.

"It's like…getting into a fight. When it's happening it's pretty bad, but the way you feel after makes you feel like the king of the world," Bishop explained. "Trust me on this."

"Okay," Aiden said, taking a deep breath.

"Cheers," Bishop said, and the two slammed back their drinks. By the time Aiden was ready for his next drink, several girls had gathered around the two, and Shephard had showed up.

"You started without me!" Shephard said, pretending to be offended.

"Hardly, Ace here wanted show you what a man he is," Bishop said, and he added in an undertone to Aiden, "Make this good." Aiden nodded his head slightly.

"Belle, a shot glass for me," Shephard said. Shortly, the trio lost track of how many shots they had, and Aiden got up and stumbled toward the door, unnoticed by Bishop who was currently acting out a fight he had once got into while protecting Hoff, much to the amusement of several giggling girls. The world was bending and turning around Aiden, and he had to place a hand on the wall to walk straight. On the way back to the hotel, he turned a corner too sharply and ran into a shady looking man.

"Watch it," The man growled. Aiden looked up.

"You watch it," Aiden slurred.

"I'm going to wreck you, drunk," The man said and slammed his elbow into the side of Aiden's head, causing him to stumble slightly.

"Bad idea," Aiden slurred once again, and, in an impressive spinning back fist, slammed the his hand into the man's head before tripping and falling onto his face. Neither man got up, Aiden passed out, and the other knocked out. Aiden was shaken awake several minutes later.

"Hey, you should get up," a girl's voice whispered in his ear.

"You should get up," he muttered.

"Very mature," she said, attempting to pick Aiden up. "This would be easier if you helped me."

"Maybe this would be easier if you helped me," Aiden slurred, looking up at the girl.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'll help you get up, come on up and at 'em," the girl said, humouring him. With much grunting, and much pulling by the girl, Aiden was up on his feet.

"There you go, do you know where you room is?" She asked him.

"Yeah, it's over there," Aiden said, pointing down the hallway.

"No, that's the Science Lab," the girl said, with raised eyebrows.

"Nope that's my room," He said, stumbling toward the lab.

"I don't think so," she said, grabbing his arm and turning him around.

"You don't know me," Aiden said.

"That's right, and since I don't know you, I'm guessing you're staying at the Weatherly Hotel," she said, leading him in the opposite direction.

"Yeah, the Weatherby Hovel, that's my stop," he said.

"How much did you drink?" She asked him.

"I don't know, I lost track," Aiden said, looking over at her. "You have beautiful eyes."

"Okay," she said, though she smiled a little. "What brings you to Rivet City?"

"My friend was going to go here, but she was murdered viciously, and I have no idea what I'm doing, so I thought I might find answers in Rivet City, because my friend was going to go here before she was viciously murdered," Aiden said, thinking hard.

"Murdered?" She gasped.

"Burnt to death, right infront of me, but I got the bastard that did it," Aiden said, with a mixture of horror and pride. The girl's grip on his arm tightened.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I went to find my dad, but I found her house, and she made me a meal, and when I woke up, there was a Rater about to rape her, so I stabbed him. She was going to take me to Megerton but another Rater came and burned her to death, so I shot him until my gun was empty, and then I ran away and found Megerton," Aiden slurred.

"That's terrible," she said softly.

"Yeah," Aiden said, his voice cracking at the memory of Silver. _Silver… What do I do? Why did you want to come to Rivet City? I wonder if I did the right thing coming here…_

"Well here we are… Will you be okay? Do you want me to come in with you?" The girl asked, with concern in her voice. Aiden looked deep into her eyes for several seconds before he answered.

"Anyone who gets near me dies," he whispered, tears welling up in his eyes.

"What?" the girl asked slowly, clearly scared. "Would you kill me?"

"Just stay away from me, I'm a curse! I came to find my dad and got several people killed instead! I'm not okay!" He said, crying. He backed into a wall and slid down it.

"It's okay…" The girl said, crouching down beside him.

"It's okay for you! You didn't see them die! You didn't see the half charred corpse of one of the only people to ever show you kindness," Aiden cried, his head in buried in his arms. "Please just do me a favor and go, I don't want to see those eyes robbed of their life…"

"Okay…" the girl said, uncertainty in her voice. "I'll check on you tomorrow, try to get some sleep." Aiden watched her walk away, and only when she was halfway down the hall did he call out.

"Wait…" He shouted. The girl stopped and looked down the hall at him. "Come here."

"I don't want to be alone tonight," Aiden whispered, when she had reached him.

"Didn't you come here with Bishop?" She asked him.

"Yeah, but he's still out drinking," Aiden said sadly. "He's the only friend I have in Rivet City."

"Okay, I'll stay with you until he comes back," The girl said.

"Much appreciated," Aiden said staggering to his feet. As he took the girl's hand, his heart suddenly flooded with guilt.

_Lucy. This isn't right, why couldn't this be you?_

Aiden quickly shook his head, removing all thought of Lucy. A second voice that was not his own floated through his memories, removing all traces of guilt.

_Thinking too much will only weigh you down, drown you._

When he reached his room, he stood outside it for a moment, staring at the girl by his side.

"What's your name?" He asked her. The girl just looked at him and smiled.

"What use is a name that you will never remember?" She said, and entered the room, sitting down in a chair at the corner. Aiden stood outside the room, wondering what she meant.

_A name I will never remember? What, is it like a mile long?_

"You're drunk, and you will never remember what happens tonight," the girl called out to him, guessing correctly what he was thinking about.

"Oh," Aiden said, and stumbled into the room and collapsed onto the bed.

Her words washed over him as he lay on his bed, and he could feel words escaping his lips but he couldn't hold onto what he was saying. He felt his eyes close several times, and each time they opened the girl was still sitting there, proving that she was not going to leave.

_Maybe I'm not alone._

At these thoughts, his eyes closed one last time and he slipped into a peaceful sleep.


	15. A Blue Eyed Mystery

(Aiden walked slowly down the halls of the Vault, lost in his own thoughts. _There has got to be something more than this Vault._ He could vividly picture a place free from the confines of these grey walls. A great orb hung in a roof that was so high he could not see the ends. The roof was not grey but a beautiful blue that he could not describe. When he dreamt of this place, he would awaken with a fire in his soul, and he knew there was more to life than being stuck in a vault.)

("Aiden! You made it!" Amata's voice called out to him and he looked up.)

("You asked me to come, why wouldn't I?" Aiden asked.)

("You always seem to be in your own world, I didn't know if you heard me when I asked you the other day," Amata said, and Aiden looked at her. She was wringing her hands like she did when she was nervous.)

("What's wrong? Why did you call me here?" He asked her, slightly concerned.)

("How long have we been friends?" She asked, not looking at him.)

("Since we were kids. Why?" He asked, now looking at her quizzically.)

("You're going to be nineteen soon, and you have taken care of me my whole life. Whenever anyone bullied me, you were right there. You have spent so much time in the hospital on my behalf, and I wanted you to know I'm really grateful," Amata said, turning red.)

("It's okay," He said, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. "Really, don't worry about it, it was nothing.")

("Do you remember a couple of months ago, when Butch trapped me in the supply closet… and he was going to… you know. I thought I was cornered, but the door opened, and you were standing there. Butch's face has never looked the same, and it took them a month to get all the blood off the floor," Amata said, moving closer to Aiden.)

("How could I forget, I had to take care of all his responsibilities and jobs while he was in the hospital, that was a month from hell. I only had time to eat, sleep, and work," Aiden said, backing away slightly.)

("You never were very good at cutting hair," Amata said, smiling slightly, "But you were really good at your job. Your tattoos were a work of art.")

("Everyone had an ugly hairstyle that month, that's for sure," Aiden said.)

("You went through so much all for me," Amata said, now so close to Aiden that he could count the individual strands of her hair.)

("Er… Ya… it's okay… You'd do the same for me, I'm sure," Aiden said, trying not to breathe on her.)

("Your amazing," Amata breathed, and her lips were suddenly pressed to his, and Aiden felt a blissful warmness inside his chest.)

The sound of footsteps brought him back to the land of the living, and he sprung out of bed. He thrust himself into the corner, his hand pressed against the throat of the figure in the shadow.

"What the hell, man?" Bishop's voice gasped from the corner.

"Why are you sneaking around?" Aiden asked him suspiciously.

"I'm not sneaking I was looking for your fucking light switch," Bishop said, as Aiden removed his hand.

"Oh," Aiden said, "Where's that girl?"

"What girl? You met a girl?" Bishop asked, a grin spreading across his face, "Tell me about her. What's her name?"

"The only thing I know is she has astonishing blue eyes," Aiden said, struggling hard to remember. "She never told me her name, and that's the only thing I remember."

"Lucky, you didn't even need to catch her name," Bishop whistled, impressed. "I wish I could do that."

"What? We didn't do anything. I don't think we did anyway," Aiden said, looking bewilderedly at Bishop.

"Oh, sure, sure, you don't kiss and tell, I get it," Bishop said. "We're going to the security office, come on."

Aiden groggily followed Bishop up several flights of stairs, until they reached a room reading "Security Office". Once inside, they saw a very formidable looking man behind the desk.

"Harkness, I'm in charge of security around here, what can I do for you?" The man said, standing up and shaking their hands.

"Bishop, Ace," Bishop said, pointing to each of them in turn. "We would like to join the force."

"Do you have experience?" Harkness asked, sitting back down.

"I guarded a caravan for eight years, under the employment of Doc Hoff," Bishop said.

"Okay, I have heard tales from Hoff of your expertise," Harkness said, "This guy is a little young for the security force. Tell me why I should risk the lives of the people on this boat."

"I found this guy surrounded by twenty dead raiders, and he was armed with nothing but a switchblade," Bishop said. "The raiders didn't stand a chance." Harkness looked unbelievingly at Aiden.

"I spent my whole life protecting my hometown from petty thugs and gangs," Aiden said, thinking about the Vault. "I can handle my own in a fight."

"Bishop you're in, but I'm going to have to test… Ace was it?" Harkness said, shaking Bishop's hand.

"Could you come this way?" He said, looking at Aiden.

"Sure," he said, looking over at Bishop he added, "I'll meet you at the hotel in a couple hours."

"Okay," Bishop said, and walked off.

"So twenty dead raiders?" Harkness asked, still disbelieving.

"It was more like two dead cannibals," Aiden said, "and I had a shotgun. Though they did get the jump on me, and I was wounded at the time."

"Are you still injured?" Harkness asked.

"My shoulder is still healing, but I can move it," Aiden said.

"Hmm. We'll see how that affects you," Harkness said, "Take the written test in here." He indicated a small room with a couple desks placed in a circle around the room. Aiden sat at the desk nearest the door, and Harkness placed a stack of papers in front of him.

_Another test that will affect my future career. Here I thought I was entirely free of this crap._

He finished the twenty pages in just under an hour, and handed the booklet back to Harkness.

"I'll look through this," He said, flipping briefly through the pages. "Report to Officer Danvers for further tests, upstairs in the barracks."

Aiden walked off in silence, climbing another flight of stairs and finding himself face to face with a female officer.

"I'm looking for Officer Danvers," he said.

"You found me, I take it you're the hopeful?" Danvers said, looking him up and down. "You don't look like much."

"Let's just get started," Aiden said.

"Fine, upstairs to the flight deck," she said, leading him up yet another flight of stairs. They emerged into the warm sunshine of the afternoon.

"I'm going to test your cardio," Danvers said, "When I blow the whistle, you start running around the baseball diamond, when I blow the whistle again, I want you to drop and give me push-ups. When you hear the whistle blow again, you get back up and start running. Repeat until I tell you to stop."

"Yes, ma'am," Aiden said.

"Okay," she said, pulling out a stopwatch. Aiden stretched out his legs and arms.

_Tweet. _He heard the whistle blow, and he began to run slowly around the diamond.

_Tweet. _The whistle blew again, and he dropped and started doing push-ups, which made his shoulder feel like it was tearing apart but he kept quiet.

_Tweet. _The whistle blew again, and he was up and running, his breath getting sharper.

_Tweet. _Down. _Tweet. _Up. _Tweet._ Down. _Tweet. _Up, his shoulder was killing him. _Tweet. _Down, there was no stopping though. _Tweet. _Up again, tears were forming in his eyes.

_Tweet. Tweet. Tweet. Tweet. Tweet. Tweet. Tweet._ Aiden felt on the verge of collapsing when finally Danvers yelled stop.

"Show me your shoulder," Danvers said. Aiden rolled up the long sleeve of his shirt, revealing several tattoos. A large skull, imprinted in black, with an open mouth rested on his forearm, and several butterflies and flowers of varying colours were flowing out of it. His shoulder, however, was blue and black and this was not a tattoo. His shoulder was throbbing with pain, and he felt like it had been torn all over again.

"That was stupid of you to do all those push-ups," Danvers said shaking her head. "Sometimes you have to know when to stop."

"I could have stopped, but I would have failed. In a real life situation if I stop, people could die," Aiden sat, his breath coming out in ragged bursts.

"Hmm," Danvers said, writing a note on her clipboard. "Next I want to test your shooting skills. Here is a BB gun, try to shoot those bottles." She pointed at a line of bottles all set up on the wing of a rusted old fighter jet.

Aiden took the gun, and checked that it was loaded. It was not.

"Do I get ammo or do I have to hope the wind will destroy it?" He asked.

"Good job, always check your gun is loaded, here," she said, handing him a tin of BB's. Aiden loaded the gun and pointed it at the bottles lined up. He let out his breath slowly, like he had seen in those old movies in the Vault, and squeezed the trigger slowly.

_Plunk. _He missed. _Plunk, Plunk, Plunk._ One of the bottles shattered, and he let out a sigh of relief.

_Plunk, Plunk, Plunk, Plunk._ He missed every shot. _Plunk._ He shattered another one.

_Plunk._ Another one shattered. _Plunk._ The next five missed. _Plunk._ He destroyed another one.

"Enough," Danvers said, scribbling on her clipboard. "I have one last test for you, hand to hand. Johnson! Get over here!" An African-american man came jogging over, dressed in his training sweats.

"Johnson here is our newest recruit, and he will test your hand to hand skills," Danvers said. "When someone falls over, stop." Aiden and Johnson both nodded their heads. After several seconds of circling one another, Johnson lunged in with a quick jab. Aiden ducked it, twisted his arm behind his back, and swept his leg out from under him, causing Johnson to crash face-first to the deck.

"Stop," Danvers said. "Impressive." She scribbled more onto her clipboard, and placed the piece of paper into an envelope.

"Take that envelope to Harkness," She said, and bent down to check on Johnson. Aiden descended the steps, which he was grateful for, because gravity helped his weary body keep momentum. He returned to the Security Office and found Harkness sitting behind his desk, rubbing his eyes.

"Done?" Harkness asked when he heard the door open.

"I am, er, Officer Danvers wanted me to give you this," He handed the envelope over to him.

"Have a seat," Harkness said, as he opened the envelope and scanned the contents of the paper. After a minute of silence, Harkness finally looked up.

"Okay, Danvers says that your cardio is above average, your shooting skills are below average, but your hand to hand is incredible. She does state concern, however, that you showed no sign of stopping when faced with incredible pain. While heroic it may be, we need every officer we can here on the boat. If you push yourself too hard, or you throw yourself in harms way and are killed, then that's one less officer to protect the citizens of Rivet City," Harkness began. Aiden just nodded, listening intently.

"Now your written test shows that you have a tendency to believe sob stories. Here in Rivet City we cannot act on emotion, because many criminals will try to change the story by making you feel sorry for them. You need to be calm, cool, and analytical. Other than that, your scores showed that mentally you are fit to be an officer, and your physical is enough. I'm sorry for doubting you, and you may join the force if you do so wish, though your first few patrols will be with Danvers or I to see if you're cut out for the field portion of it," Harkness finished.

"Thank you, sir," Aiden said, and Harkness stood to shake his hand.

"Welcome to the force," he said, "Your first patrol will be tonight. Is that alright?"

"It is," Aiden said.

"Good, because you didn't have a choice," Harkness chuckled, "You're dismissed."

Aiden found Bishop sitting in his hotel room, with several giggling girls in his midst.

"I'm in," Aiden said, after he had managed to tear Bishop away from the girls, who were now pouting with arms crossed.

"That's great," Bishop said with a sidelong glance at the girls, "How were the tests?"

"Painful," Aiden said. "My first patrol is tonight."

"I'm on guard duty tonight, Shephard told me," Bishop said. "I get to watch the drawbridge with him."

"Fun, I guess I'll leave you to your thing you got going here," Aiden said, glancing at the girls who were looking scornfully at him.

"There's more than enough for both of us, come have some fun," Bishop said, his grin coming back.

"No, that's not my style," Aiden said, shaking his head.

"Suit yourself, I'll see you later," Bishop said, shutting the door behind him. Aiden returned to his room and lay down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

_Fun. How can Bishop call that fun? I'd rather drown in my thoughts than drown in an excess of STDs. One girl is enough for me, but it's not even that simple. Amata… Lucy…I'd die for either of them. Amata did have her chance to come with me… Lucy though, I did abandon her. I ran away. I don't know what to think anymore._

"You look healthy," A voice cut his thoughts short. Aiden bolted upright, but relaxed when he saw the blue eyes from the night before.

"Blue-eyes, good to see you again," Aiden said.

"You're much more intelligent when your words aren't stumbling over your own puke," she said raising her eyebrows.

"True enough, but, in my own defence, it was my first time drinking," Aiden chuckled.

"That's what they all say," she said, entering the room and sitting on the chair from the night before. "Do you still think I'm going to die?"

"Not if you stay away from me," Aiden said, looking away.

"Okay, Mr. Misunderstood Tough Guy, shall I see my self out then," she chuckled.

"It's your choice," he said, looking over at her.

"I'm feeling a little brave today, I might take my chance with death," she said, moving her chair closer to the bed.

"You don't have to be a jerk about it," Aiden said.

"Me? I'm not being a jerk. I just want to tempt death as much as I can," she said and moved her chair closer to his bed, an unserious look on her face.

"Come on, stop it," Aiden laughed.

"Awh, so there is a happy guy underneath the many layers of sadness," she said with mock happiness.

"Yeah, he tends to show from time to time, it's the only way people tolerate me," he said with a wink.

"Well, let me tell you, I prefer the sad one," she said, a faux serious look on her face.

"If you hang around much longer, he'll probably show up again," he said.

"Well, if we're just going to be hurtful," she said, and made quite a show of leaving the room, turning around only to stick her tongue out at him. Aiden waited for several seconds, and, when she didn't come back, he raced to his door and looked left and right, but saw no sign of her.

_What a strange girl… I didn't catch her name again. _

He heard footsteps at the door, and he looked up hopefully, but his hopes were dashed against a sheer rock face when he saw it was only Harkness.

"Put this on, it's time," He said, tossing the Rivet City armor and helmet at him. He hastily put them on, and, upon examination of himself in the mirror, he saw that the helmet was tinted so dark he could not see his face.

"Helmet's a little dark," he commented.

"You'll be grateful when the criminals can't see your face," Harkness said, leading him out of the room.

"What if I use it to pursue… criminal pursuits without anyone recognizing me?" Aiden asked, as the whole idea seemed like a double-ended sword.

"I'll receive a complaint, I'll investigate it, and when I find out it's you I'll send you to the bottom of the ocean courtesy of a couple of cinder blocks," Harkness said, no hint of a joke in his voice.

"Uh… this has happened before?" Aiden asked, startled at the efficiency of his response.

"Several times," Harkness said, "I have no tolerance for anyone who would bend the law for their own gain. We are here to protect and serve, not harass and rob."

"I see… By killing them though, doesn't that prove you're bending the law for your own personal gain?" Aiden asked.

"Would you give a Raider a trial?" Harkness asked, "or would you kill him?"

"No, but that's different," Aiden said.

"How? A corrupt officer can harass and torture a citizen just like a raider, only they are not as upfront as a raider," Harkness said, stopping at a door. "This is the Marketplace, this is where we patrol tonight."

"Okay," Aiden acknowledged. "Do I get a weapon or…?"

"Not yet, rookie, you have to prove yourself first," Harkness replied, and he opened the door to the Marketplace. There were at least a hundred people bustling around the Marketplace, some going to eat, some shopping, and others just loitering.

"Keep an eye out for thieves," Harkness said in an undertone to Aiden, as they descended the steps into the marketplace. "They're usually abundant in a place like this."

"What do we do with thieves?" Aiden asked, looking around nervously.

"Run 'em out of town or kill 'em, same thing we do with all criminals," Harkness said, and upon sensing the reaction from Aiden added, "It's their choice."

"That seems harsh," Aiden said.

"Imprisoning someone will do nothing, to save Rivet City from crime you must remove the sources of it," Harkness replied. "We don't shoot without proper evidence first."

"Okay," Aiden said, feeling a little overwhelmed.

_What if the person is good, they were just driven to desperate measures? What if I make a mistake and gun down someone who did nothing wrong?_

"It's okay to be nervous, it all seems a little overwhelming at first," Harkness said, sensing exactly what he was thinking. "Usually unless we witness the crime first hand we do not kill or expel. We are firm, but fair."

"Okay, I think I can do this," Aiden said, taking a deep breath.

"Okay, focus," Harkness said, his head swivelling left and right slowly. He stopped in front of a store called The Potomac Attire. "This is a good place to stop and keep an eye out, it's around the middle of all the stores, and so you have a good view."

"I can see that," he said, looking into the store, and what he saw sent his heart racing. Blue-eyes was standing right in the middle of the store, wearing a white scarf, twirling and examining herself in the mirror. She seemed to love the way she looked in it, but she kept looking at the price tag very sadly.

"Hey, is Bannon out?" Harkness asked, entering the store.

"Hey Mr. Harkness, yeah, he's out for supper," Blue-eyes said, tearing her eyes away from the mirror.

"Ah, that's too bad. That scarf suits you, don't you think, Ace?" Harkness remarked, looking back at Aiden. Aiden just nodded his head and shift his weight uncomfortably.

"Who's this, Mr. Harkness?" Blue-eyes asked.

"This is Ace, he's out on his first patrol," Harkness said.

"Ooooo, good luck," she smiled mischievously. It only served to heighten her beauty.

"Come on, you don't want to scare the kid," Harkness said. Blue-eyes just continued to smile looking at the tattoo on Aiden's forearm. Aiden noticed this and rolled the sleeve of his shirt down.

"Well, we have to go now, give Bannon my best," Harkness said. "Come on, Ace." Aiden followed Harkness out of the store, and with a quick backward glance, he saw Blue-eyes looking wistfully at the scarf around her neck again.

"Who was that?" Aiden asked.

"That's Bannon's hired help, her name is--" Harkness began, but was cut off when someone shouted from near the back of the marketplace.

"Assault!" The voice yelled. Harkness withdrew his Chinese assault rifle and began to sprint toward the back of the store. Aiden followed suit, staying close behind the security chief. Harkness arrived at the scene first.

"Freeze!" He shouted, pointing his C.A.R. at a man with a pipe raised above his head. "Ace, grab the girl." Aiden ran forward and grabbed the girl and pulled her away from the man.

"She has insulted me!" The man shouted. "She spilled her drink on me and didn't apologize."

"What?" Aiden said in disbelief. "You try to kill her over that?"

"Cool it, Ace," Harkness muttered.

"Are you stupid or something?" Aiden asked, taking a step toward the man.

"Ace! Cool it!" Harkness said his voice getting louder. Aiden took another step toward the man, and noticed a really nasty shiner on the man's face. He suddenly remembered the man as the one who had bumped into him last night.

"Nice bruise you got there," Aiden said. A man ran out of the crowd and grabbed Harkness' C.A.R. and the two began to grapple over it. The man used this to his advantage and charged Aiden, smashing the pipe over his wounded shoulder. Aiden dropped to a knee, and immediately gripped his shoulder. The man took another swing and caught Aiden on the side of the helmet, causing a huge dent and sending him reeling to the floor.

"I'll kill you!" The man said in a rage and brought the lead pipe down on Aiden's visor. Half of it shattered, and the man saw Aiden's face. He stopped for a moment, trying to remember where he had seen it before, which Aiden used to his advantage. He grabbed the man by the throat with his left hand and threw the man off of him. He rose quickly, and brought his knee flying into the man's face. He had been stumbling, but now lay on the floor coughing up blood. For good measure, Aiden gave him a swift decisive kick to the temple, knocking the man unconscious.

_Bang._ A gunshot rang out, and the man who had attacked Harkness was stumbling back, holding his chest. Harkness walked up to the injured man and shot him again in the chest, ending the man's heart beat right there.

"You okay, Ace?" Harkness asked, examining his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He said. Harkness shot the unconscious man in the back of the skull.

"Good, how is your shoulder?" Harkness asked.

"Uh… it's fine…" Aiden said, slightly unnerved by the brutal act he had just witnessed.

"He tried to kill you, he got what he deserved," Harkness said, reading Aiden's body language.

"Yeah, yeah… Okay…" Aiden said, trying to recompose himself.

"Eventful first day," Harkness remarked, a faint smile etched on his lips.

"Yeah, you could say that," Aiden replied. "How come you don't wear a helmet?"

"The citizens of Rivet City know who I am, and I have no intention of shying away from my responsibilities. They need to have faith that the head of security is indeed here for them."

The rest of the patrol went without event, and Aiden soon found himself sitting in his hotel room again, alone.

_I wonder how that girl is holding up._ The girl who was assaulted was taken immediately to the clinic, and was spending the night in the barracks for her safety.

"People are crazy," he sighed, lying back on his bed. He lay in silence for several minutes, when Bishop appeared at his doorway.

"Heard about your incident, I would have torn that bastard apart for you," Bishop said in a growl.

"It's okay, I handled it, and Harkness finished it," Aiden replied, not looking up.

"Yeah, I heard, that's not easy to see. We could have just as easily chucked him out of the city," Bishop said, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah? I didn't think you cared," Aiden said, sitting up.

"Oh, I don't. I just understand what you're going through. Thought I would help you out, but I'm off to the Muddy Rudder, if you need me I'll be there," Bishop said, without emotion.

"We're friends. I'm not your boss," Aiden said.

"Yeah," Bishop replied and walked out. Aiden stared at the empty doorway for several seconds before flopping back onto the bed.

_What am I going to do? I can't spend all my time cooped up in here. There's got to be a reason I was determined to get here, I need to go find it._ _Maybe… I'll just go for a walk._

Aiden got off the bed and put on his black zip-up hoodie. He let his feet just guide him as he thought about the events from his patrol.

_That escalated pretty quickly. I really need to pay attention from now on. Pay attention. Blue-eyes… That scarf really did suit her. No, don't think like that. Lucy… what are you doing right now?_

Aiden tried to picture Lucy, imagining what she was doing. He envisioned her sitting at Moriarty's saddened. The background of Moriarty's changed to the backdrop of his hotel and he saw Blue-eyes looking at him as he lay on his bed.

_Damnit Aiden, Focus! Lucy is alone and you can't stop thinking of a different girl. You're pathetic!_

Aiden screwed his eyes shut, and thought back to his time in Megaton. He and Lucas stood looking over a railing as Lucy talked to Bishop.

Lucy again turned into Blue-eyes who stood desolate and alone in the middle of a store, and only he Aiden was there with her. She turned and looked at him, and she smiled, and she disappeared, and Aiden found himself face to face with the Marketplace door.

_…Do I go look for Blue-eyes? Or should I turn and run all the way back to Megaton? I hate this feeling it's tearing me apart. I wish the pain and doubt and thoughts would just go away…_

Sudden inspiration struck Aiden and he hurried back to his hotel room. He withdrew his pack, and found quickly what he was looking for. It didn't take long for his eyes to glaze over.

_Okay, now what? Lucy is far away and you came to Rivet City for a reason. Blue-eyes did look good in that scarf. Maybe I'll buy it for her… she never has to know it was I. I can make her happy and remain anonymous. _

Aiden made up his mind, and he withdrew three hundred caps from his pack. He slung his hood low over his face so that it was shrouded in darkness and he made his way to the Marketplace. He snuck gracefully past people and soon found himself at the entrance of Potomac Attire. An African-american man stood behind the counter looking stern. He appeared to be lecturing Blue-eyes.

"I told you that unless you are going to buy it, you can not wear the merchandise," he said sternly.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bannon," she said softly, and sounded as if she was on the verge of tears. "I know I'll never be able to afford it…"

"I like you, you're a good girl," Bannon sighed. "You are a good employee, but you must stop wearing the merchandise. If people saw you wear it they might--"

"Be blinded by your beauty," Aiden interjected, stepping into the store. Blue-eyes wheeled around to look at the man who had said this, and Bannon looked cautiously into Aiden's darkened face.

"Er… Can I help you?" Bannon asked.

"Not you, but she can," Aiden said making his voice low, gesturing towards Blue-eyes.

"Me? But… He's in charge here," She said, sounding surprised.

"Yes but, no offence here Bannon, seeing his eyes full of tears wouldn't kill me," Aiden said in his fake voice, taking a step toward her. Blue-eyes wiped her eyes hastily on the back of her sleeve.

"What do you need me for?" She asked.

"I want you to promise me that those blue eyes will never be filled with tears again," Aiden said. He could feel his heart pounding furiously despite his body's apathetic state.

"Why do you care?" She asked suspiciously.

"A face as beautiful as yours doesn't deserve to be stained with salt," Aiden said, picking up the scarf. The price tag read two hundred and fifty caps. He could see her eyes alight with hope.

"Promise you'll wear this often, and it's yours," He whispered softly to her.

"I--- I promise…" She whispered, her voice alive with hope but riddled with distrust. Aiden smiled, though she couldn't see, and he handed the scarf and the bag of caps to her.

"I'll be watching for you," He whispered again and disappeared out the front of the store.


	16. A Reunion Of Old Friends

Months passed, and Aiden got only more proficient at his job. He was training daily, improving his marksmanship, his cardio, and even his hand to hand. Harkness permitted him to carry his shotgun with him, and he was patrolling the Marketplace by himself. Everyday, he checked in on Blue-eyes, and everyday, his memory of Lucy faded a little more. No longer was he Aiden; he was Ace, Rivet City security.

"Hey you," Aiden greeted Blue-eyes one Saturday morning.

"Hey rook," she greeted. "How go the patrols?"

"Same old, you have great taste. That scarf really brings out the blonde in your hair," Aiden remarked.

"Thanks," she replied, a little red forming in her cheeks.

"Have you figured out who got it for you?" Aiden asked casually.

"No, but it was amazing. It was something out of a story," she smiled, twirling and wrapping the scarf tightly around her.

"Sounds good," he grunted.

"Yes, so, super trooper, you come here everyday. Any chance I get to see whose hiding under the helmet?" She said, cocking her head to the side and attempting to peer past the tint.

"Any chance I'll get to know your name?" Aiden replied simply.

"When I see your face, you can know my name," She smiled her mischievous smile at him.

"No dice," Aiden shook his head.

"Okay, Mr. Mysterious," she replied. "It's funny, we're practically best friends and I don't even know what you look like."

"Count yourself lucky," Aiden joked, "I got to get back on patrol though."

"Good luck," she replied and turned back to the cash register. The rest of the patrol went by quickly, and once again, Aiden found himself sitting in his hotel room, his least favourite place to be.

_You've betrayed Lucy._

"Shut up."

_She trusted you._

"Shut up."

_You know what you do is wrong, that's why you drown your feelings out._

"Shut up," Aiden said once more, and stuck the needle in his arm. The familiar sensation of melting washed over him, and he was soon left with alone inside his head.

"Aiden," Bishop said, appearing in the doorway. Aiden hastily hid the needle. "Harkness wants to see all members of the security force."

"Why?" Aiden asked.

"Like I know, come on," Bishop said, disappearing again. The duo soon found themselves sitting around the conference table.

"Everybody is here, please Vance, tell them what you told me," Harkness said, sitting down.

_Vance?! What?!_

"Good evening," Vance's smooth voice rang out from the corner of the room. He stepped out, and looked at every security officer in turn, his eyes hovering a fraction of a second longer on Aiden.

"I bring grave news," Vance said, with his hands behind his back. "Megaton has been… destroyed."

"What?!" Aiden shouted, standing up.

"Ace, sit down!" Harkness shouted.

"There are few survivors. The one's who made it are currently en route here, escorted by very close friends of mine," Vance continued. "It seems someone set the bomb off." Aiden shook silently, grief, rage, and confusion welling up inside of him.

"The task of finding these people a bed belongs to you, the security force," Vance said, "that is all."

"You heard the man," Harkness said standing up, "I have assignments for each of you. Come get them." Officer after officer received folders detailing what the individual was supposed to do. When Aiden reached Harkness, he received no envelope.

"Vance has a special job for you," Harkness said bitterly. "I don't know what it is, so go talk to him."

"Please, _Ace_, upstairs, out of earshot," Vance said, placing particular emphasis on the name, when Aiden had reached him. Aiden soon found himself standing on the flight deck.

"You look well, Aiden, or Ace, or whatever they call you now," Vance calmly said.

"You too, Vance," Aiden replied.

"You are different, tell me, by acquisition of a new name did you acquire a new personality? Are you an entirely different person than that boy who traversed the Wastes for that special girl?" Vance asked, gazing deep into Aiden's eyes. Aiden shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"Lucy did survive yes, but I fear you don't care," Vance said, watching Aiden closely again. Aiden felt like it was old times, with Vance x-raying him.

"She is not on her way here, so do not worry yourself about that pretty new girl I am sure you have eyes for," Vance continued. "I have news for you which I can tell no other, for this relates only to you."

"Where is Lucy?" Aiden asked, guilt surging in his chest.

"In time, dear boy, I have very troublesome news for you. It was not the bomb that went off in Megaton. _A great mechanical bird_ flew over Megaton looking for you. Your friend Gob has been tortured for months now, before he cracked and told them about you and how you came from Megaton," Vance said, gazing up at the sky. "When they could not find you, they kidnapped Lucy and lay waste to the entire town."

_Gob… Lucy…_ Aiden suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He felt Ace slipping away, and soon he was Aiden, confused and scared.

"The Enclave, that is what they are called, now have your father, James was his name? They will tear the Wastes apart looking for you," Vance started again. "Your father will not give them the information they require and so they hope that by finding you they will break him."

"Dad…" Aiden whispered.

"Indeed, you have several choices to make from here," Vance said, lowering his voice and leaning in very close to Aiden. "Choice one, you wait here, and they will find you, and they will kill everyone here. Choice two, you leave, and they will come here, and they will kill everyone looking for you. Choice three, you infiltrate the Enclave base, you save your _old_ friends, and you save Rivet City, and that very pretty girl you have had eyes for."

"Do you think I can honestly save everyone?" Aiden asked, looking into Vance's face.

"No, not everyone, you can not save yourself, no matter the outcome, you are going to die. The choice is yours if you die a coward or a hero," Vance said, looking at his watch. "You have… thirty two minutes to decide."

"What, why so little time?" Aiden asked, his heart skipping beats like a scratched CD.

"Because there is little time, Lucy will not fare well under torture, she will crack soon," Vance said, "thirty one minutes."

"Okay, okay, I'll go!" Aiden said frantically, tears welling up in his eyes. "Will Lucy be okay?"

"No, she will suffer a great deal. The exact amount is up to you, the quicker you get there, the more intact her emotional state will be," Vance said. "You do not have much time, the base is a great distance away."

"How do I get there?" Aiden asked.

"I can help you there," Vance replied. "Follow me." And so Aiden followed Vance across the flight deck until he stopped in front of what looked like a transport helicopter.

"This is one of their _mechanical birds_," Vance said. "Inside, you will find several dead guards, each in a suit of armour. You have no chance of wearing these. You will go straight to the cockpit where there will be a dead Enclave officer waiting for you. You will put on his outfit, and together, you and I will fly to the Enclave base."

"You're coming with me?" Aiden asked, amazed.

"The Enclave threatens my flock. Until they are gone, I fear they will always be in danger," Vance replied. "I will do all I can to save my lost souls."

"I'm pathetic," Aiden whispered. "How could I have forgotten Lucy?"

"Feeling sorry for yourself is only giving them more time to hurt your precious Lucy," Vance said. Aiden looked up and nodded.

"Let's go," Aiden said, entering the verti-bird. He quickly changed into the officer's outfit and sat down in the chair. Vance was already in the seat next to him.

"We're off, though we have an additional passenger it seems," Vance said, firing up the engine.

"What?! Who?" Aiden asked.

"Me," Bishop's voice sounded off from behind him.

"Bishop?! What are you doing here?" Aiden shouted.

"Please, boss, like I would let you do something stupid without me. Who would save you from yourself?" Bishop chuckled, and picked up one of the suits of armour. "It's been awhile since I wore one of these."

"You can wear those?" Aiden asked. "They look fucking heavy!"

"Yeah, well, these muscles are good for more than flexing," he replied, slipping the helmet over his head.

"We only have one shot at this," Vance said, as the verti-bird hurtled across the Wastes. "Are we ready?"

"Yes," Bishop and Aiden said at once.

"Harkness," Vance said, speaking into a radio, "can you hear me?"

"Who the hell is this?" Harkness growled into the radio. "How did you get this frequency?"

"It's a friend, I want you to prepare to evacuate Rivet City. We're all about to do something crazy, and if we fail, Rivet City is in trouble," Vance said.

"Is this a threat? I will bury you in an unmarked grave," Harkness shouted.

"Well, I hope there's enough of us left to bury when we're finished," Vance finished and hung up.

"Do you have to be so fucking mysterious all the time?" Bishop shouted over the roar of the engine. Vance just looked at him and smiled.

_Lucy… Hold on… I'm coming._

"There it is," Vance said after a half hour had passed, pointing to a large bunker embedded deep into the rocks of a mountain.

"Whoa…" Aiden breathed. The whole thing looked quite formidable, and he became even more nervous.

"What's the plan?" Bishop shouted over the roar of the engines.

"I guess that we can blend in until we shut down the prison cells, but after that we're pretty much riding on Lady Luck's good graces," Vance said. "Aiden, it's good to see you again."

"You too, Vance," Aiden replied truthfully. It felt good to be back with his old friend.

"Okay, go," Vance said, once the Verti-bird had landed. The door opened and Bishop and Aiden exited. They looked around for Vance but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I think he bailed on us," Bishop sighed.

"No, he's near I trust him," Aiden said.

"I just hope your trust doesn't get us killed," Bishop replied.

"Is Bishop scared to die?" Aiden asked earnestly.

"No, I just had a hot date lined up tonight," he replied and walked towards the bunker. Aiden shook his head in disbelief and followed his friend. No one paid them any mind; they were all too busy running around doing maintenance, or patrolling. They entered the base and, within the hour, found the prisons after much searching.

"Lucy!" Aiden shouted, and ran forward to the energy field surrounding her.

"Aiden…" she replied weakly. "He told me you would come."

"Who told you?" He asked, confused.

"Vance… he knew…" she whispered.

_Vance… how do you always know?_

"I'm getting you out of here, hold on," he said, pressing his hand against the energy field around Lucy.

"I think I'm dying…" she whispered.

"No! You're going to be fine!" Aiden said with more confidence than he felt, tears forming in his eyes again.

"I'm glad I got to see you again…" she whispered as her eyes shut.

"Don't shut your eyes! Don't shut your fucking eyes!" Aiden screamed pounding on the barrier between Lucy and him. He stood up and ran to the control panel on the wall and began hitting it.

"Shut down! Shut down now!" He raged, desperate to save Lucy. His heart tore at him, screaming at him. He had ignored Lucy all this time, and now she lay dying before him.

_Calm down, Aiden. You need to think clearly._

"I can't!" Aiden whispered to himself. "She is going to die…"

_You can do this. You have the Pip-Boy on your wrist._

Aiden looked down at his wrist, and he felt a surge of hope. He hooked it up to the control panel and started frantically tapping buttons on it.

"Come on… Come on…" He muttered. His Pip-Boy beeped and the energy fields around all the prisoners disappeared.

"We're free!" A multitude of prisoners shouted. An old man hobbled up to Aiden.

"Thank you, young lad," He beamed.

"Who the fuck are you?" Aiden asked hysterically.

"Names Dapper, I live in---" the old man began.

"Not now old man!" Aiden shouted, pushing him out of the way. He knelt beside Lucy.

"Please be okay…" he whispered, and picked up her limp body in his arms.

"Bishop! Do you have any ideas?" He asked Bishop.

"None," Bishop replied, pressed up to the wall, the laser rifle he had picked up off the dead guard in the verti-bird pointed at the door.

"I have one," a smooth voice called out. Aiden turned and saw Vance standing there, a bloody knife in one hand.

"Where did you come from?" Aiden asked him.

"The question is where are we going? And the answer is… out the front door," Vance replied. "We have roughly five minutes before they find out what happened, so let's go."

The small group followed close behind Vance, Aiden right behind him carrying Lucy, Bishop behind him, James was shoulder-supporting Gob, and the rest of the prisoners were following closely behind those two. They reached a corner and Vance beckoned them to stop.

"Wait here," he whispered and disappeared around the corner. There was a gurgling noise and Vance reappeared.

"Let's go," he whispered again. "And do mind the blood."

The group turned the corner and saw a dead officer laying there, his eyes fixed in terror, blood rushing from a huge gash in his throat.

"Hurry, hurry," Vance whispered, when suddenly an alarm went off. "Run!" Heavy footsteps of at least twenty soldiers pounded in the corridors behind them. Everywhere you could hear shouting.

"Find the intruders!"

"Alpha, check sector 3! Bravo Sector 1! The rest you of you come with me to sector 3!"

The group rushed forward through hallway after hallway, and, by sheer luck, ran into no guards.

"Found them!" a voice sounded in the hall behind them, and a laser blast flew right over their shoulders. Bishop immediately slammed his back into cover and opened fire on the group behind them.

"You guys go, I'll catch up," He said calmly, his voice distorted by the Enclave helmet covering his face. Aiden nodded his head, and Vance urged the group forwards.

"Come, we are almost there, I can feel the sunlight," Vance breathed.

"What does he mean he can feel it," a worried prisoner whispered behind Aiden.

_What __**does**__ he mean? He can feel it?_

"One more corner," Vance muttered, his eyes focused ahead of them. There was a throaty growling behind them, and everyone but Vance stopped and turned around slowly. A giant lizard/dragon/devil looking thing stood before them, huge claws flexed out in front of it.

"Deathclaw…" One of the prisoners whispered in terror.

"Don't stop! Run!" Vance shouted. "That creature will kill us all!"

"We're almost there Lucy…" Aiden whispered.

"Dapper!" A voice behind them shouted. The old man had fallen to the ground and the Deathclaw was rapidly approaching.

"Vance! Take Lucy," Aiden shouted, dropping Lucy into Vance's outstretched arms.

"Aiden!" His dad shouted, grabbing him by the shirt. "It's too late." Aiden shook his hand off and cleared the distance to Dapper in a half second.

"Get up, old man," Aiden said, literally pulling him to his feet. The old man just stared in horror at the Deathclaw, now mere feet away.

"If you get me killed…" Aiden muttered, and he picked up Dapper the same way he had been carrying Lucy and sprinted to try to catch up with the group. Vance had pried open the door to the bunker, and sunlight was streaming through the otherwise dark hallway. Aiden could see the Verti-bird firing up.

_Don't leave…_ Aiden was suddenly hit with panic and began scrambling incredibly fast, and he cleared the entrance to the bunker. When he reached the sunlight, the door to the Verti-bird opened, and Gob was standing there.

"Aiden… Behind you…" He shouted weakly. Aiden dropped Dapper, who crawled to the door of the Verti-bird, and he turned around. The Deathclaw lunged, driving its claw deep into Aiden's abdomen.

"No!" A voice sounded from the Verti-bird. "Gob! Get out of the way!"

"It's too late," Gob whispered.

"That's my son! Get out of the way!" James screamed. Aiden looked at the Verti-bird, and he could see Vance's face.

_Is he looking at me with pity?_ Aiden rolled over again, and the Deathclaw roared and raised a mighty claw again. Aiden felt so weak, he had trouble staying conscious. He kept feeling his eyes shut, but he would wrench them open. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion, the Deathclaw was bringing the claw down, but the angle was all wrong. It was not swinging at Aiden, its claw was… dropping. The Deathclaw was falling over, and an Enclave soldier stood above him. His eyes shut, and when he wrenched them open, he was in a steel room, surrounded by worried faces.

"I hold them off, and you still get injured," the Enclave solder muttered, shaking his head.

"Everyone runs out of luck sometime," Aiden muttered. "Is Lucy okay?"

"No… she's dead," The soldier whispered, turning away.

"What…?" Aiden felt his heart wrench away from his body.

"No, I'm just fucking with you," The soldier turned and chuckled. "She's going to make it."

"Fuck you…" Aiden said, feeling himself growing weaker. The soldier took off his helmet.

"Yeah, you should have seen your face," Bishop chuckled, "I wish I could say that you're going to make it but… I can see what you had for lunch today and I'm no doctor but that's usually not good."

"Yeah…" Aiden said, not really hearing what Bishop was saying.

"Aiden… I'm so sorry I got you involved in this…" His dad said, kneeling beside him.

"So am I," Aiden whispered, chuckling softly.

"Does it hurt?" His dad asked, gesturing towards his stomach.

"Nah… I took some med-x before I came," Aiden said, his eyes drooping.

"You told me you stopped taking that," His dad said, sounding hurt.

"Old habits die hard," Aiden chuckled again and he turned to look at his dad. "You don't have anymore, do you?"

"No, it could kill you," his dad said.

"Look at me, do I even look alive?" Aiden asked, looking at his dad's blurry face. James did look at his son, and indeed he looked dead. His face was caked with coughed up blood, and his skin was whiter than a snowstorm.

"Okay…" His dad whispered, reaching into his first aid box and withdrawing a needle. He placed it into Aiden's arm, and pushed the plunger down.

"I love you…" He whispered, holding Aiden's hand tight.

"I love you too dad…" Aiden replied slowly, and he took a rattling breath, and his world turned to black.


	17. Searching For Closure

"We saved James, and there is little chance of their plans coming to fruition without him," Vance said, standing before a council which included Harkness, Danvers, James, Bishop, Lucas, Jericho, and many others.

"The real fight starts now, though," Vance continued. "While we may have stalled them, we have not stopped them. They will use all the resources available to find him again. I give my thanks to Harkness for a speedy evacuation of Rivet City."

"I would like to welcome you all to my home," Vance carried on. "There is only one entrance and one exit, and it is guarded day and night. We have blocked off all other entrances, right now, this is the safest place in the Wastes. I leave Harkness in charge of security; so if you have any concerns about that, please speak to him. The rest of you, I need your help in building more beds for our many denizens. That is all for now."

Bishop stood up and walked out silently. He found Shephard waiting for him right outside.

"How did the meeting go?" He asked.

"It was what I expected," Bishop replied.

"And what was that?" Shephard asked.

"Nothing I couldn't have figured out for myself," he sighed. "I need a drink."

"So, what happened at the Enclave base?" Shephard asked, following behind Bishop. Bishop said nothing, walking on in silence.

"Man, what's wrong with you?" Shephard stopped, calling after him.

"I'm drowning," he chuckled, and carried on. He sat down on his bed, and shut his eyes. He had a big day ahead of himself tomorrow.

Harkness stood on the balcony overlooking the area where all the refugees from Rivet City and Megaton sat, huddled and scared. Some casually looked up and saw Harkness standing there.

"It's Harkness," some began to whisper, and everyone looked up at him. Harkness felt a strong surge of emotion at this sight. Did they expect him to make a speech? Did they expect him to say anything? He had guarded most of these people for a long time now, and they placed much of their trust in him.

Harkness descended the steps, and sat amongst the citizens, all of who were trying to ask him questions. He held up his hand for silence.

"To the people of Megaton, I understand that you all lost many family members, and everything you owned. You were just lucky to scrape by with your lives," he began, licking his lip nervously. "I assure you, I will protect you like I have protected Rivet City. I ask everyone of Rivet City to share what he or she own with these poor refugees. I know that even you do not have much, but in times like these, we are all one family. You are all scared and confused about what's going on, and even I don't know. I ask you all to sleep now, security will watch over you all night. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask them." Harkness rose, and a small child approached him, clutching a teddy bear tight to her chest.

"Mister Harkness," she said, pulling on his pinkie. He looked down at her. "Do you think we're going to be okay?"

"Yes, I do," he lied, looking into the girls eyes, "we'll all be fine."

"What is this shit?" Jericho asked, leaning against the wall.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked him.

"You should be head of security," Jericho said, eyeing the former sheriff.

"Harkness is used to having people under his command, it was a smart choice," Lucas said. "I want him to be in charge."

"Sure, he's used to ordering people around," Jericho said, looking back at the floor. "You defended Megaton by yourself. No one has more experience than you."

"Not true, you have more experience than me," Lucas said, looking at Jericho. "You helped me defend it. You also spent most of your life as a Raider."

"Stupid choice," he muttered. "I did bad things."

"I know, Jericho. I'll be the first to defend you," Lucas said, "You're knowledge of the Wastes will be useful in these coming times."

"I hope so," he muttered again. "I'm going to get a drink."

"I'll come with you," Lucas said, following Jericho out the door.

"You're sure you're okay, Gob?" James asked.

"Yeah, doc, a little shaken, but I'll be good," Gob replied.

"I saw what they did to you, I find it hard to believe you're just 'a little shaken'," James said, his eyebrows raised. "You're lucky you knew Aiden or they would have just killed you for being a ghoul."

"Yeah, sure, you call it lucky," Gob said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm working on a solution to purify the water of the Wastes," James said, looking back down at one of several papers on the desk.

"Do you need help?" Gob asked.

"Just for menial tasks," James replied, looking up. "Are you interested?"

"For sure, doc," Gob replied eagerly.

"It'll just be lifting, retrieving, and possibly holding things for me," James said. "You're sure you're up for something that boring?"

"Anything, doc, I just want to help," he replied.

"Okay, go find someone called Dr. Li," James said, turning his attention back to the papers on his desk.

"Okay," Gob replied, and exited the room.

Bishop awoke early, having felt something at the foot of his bed. He swiftly withdrew his combat knife from under his pillow, and called out.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"I need you to do me a favour," a smooth voice rang out from the shadows.

"Vance… I should have known. What do you want?" Bishop asked.

"We are extremely out manned and outgunned. I fear we may need to ask for some assistance from your old friends," Vance said.

"The Brotherhood? They made me an Outcast. What makes you think they'll listen to me?" Bishop asked sceptically.

"The future of everyone in the Wastes depends on it. I think not even they could turn a blind eye to that," Vance replied.

"You're unreal," Bishop said, placing his head in his hands. Vance just smiled and disappeared back around the corner.

"Does he always have to be so fucking mysterious?" Bishop muttered, and pulled open his footlocker. The red and black armour stared back up at him, and he smiled to himself.

"Hey, girl, looks like we have one last adventure ahead of ourselves," he whispered, and pulled his armour on. He reached into the footlocker and withdrew his laser rifle. "Well, let's get the begging over with."

With those words, Bishop exited the station and soon found himself in the warm glow of the sunrise.

She continued to walk down the hallway. How long had it been? It felt like days, even years. There was never a bend in the floor, a scratch in the wall, or a flaw in the roof. The hallway just stretched before her like an endless tunnel. She was beginning to feel panic, which was amplified by the ghostly wailing bouncing off the walls.

"Where is everyone?" she whispered to herself. She had her arms wrapped around her body, trying to keep herself calm. There were portraits all along the wall, each one showing a grinning skeleton. She continued to walk on for what felt like years more, when, suddenly ahead of her, there was a flickering light. She could hear music and voices, and she picked up speed, feeling relief at the fact that she was about to see more people.

The sight she saw took her breath away. She stood in a ballroom, where hundreds of couples were all dancing in silence, solemn looks on their faces. The haunting music continued to chorus around the room, rebounding off the smooth walls. She couldn't pinpoint where the voices were coming from. They seemed to be coming from the walls themselves.

She looked down at herself, and cried out in surprise, when she saw a flowering evening gown, emerald green. Her favourite scarf hung loose around her shoulders, and leaning against a wall, she could see the man with the hood pulled low over her face.

"Hey!" She shouted out at him. The man looked up slowly, and, upon seeing her, he turned and slowly walked out of the room.

"Wait!" She called chasing after him. She bumped into many of the couples dancing, but it was like hitting a rock wall and they took no notice anyway. Her apologies went unheard, and the couples continued to waltz around the room. She passed the band, which was all rotting corpses, and she passed several children, staring at her with sunken eyes. Fear gripped her chest tight, making it really hard to breathe. She finally found the exit to the room. He was walking down a hallway, and she picked up speed, desperate to catch up with him. A sudden image flashed before her, and she stopped. It flashed again, and this time stayed, and she could see a security standing before her, his hand outstretched. She grasped his hand, and the guard collapsed. She bent down to help him up, and was startled to find the man who arrived with Bishop lying in front of her. She gasped as the man got up and, leaning on the wall for support, stumbled drunkenly through a door on his left. She ran through the doors the man had disappeared through and found herself on the roof. The hooded man stood right on the edge of the building; he was staring right at her.

"Who are you?" She asked, taking a step towards him. He lowered his hood, and his face was a skull. He opened his skeletal mouth to speak, and a flurry of the most beautiful butterflies and flowers ever conceived flew out. He raised one skeletal finger to his bony lips, almost as if hushing her, and he fell backwards over the edge of the building. She screamed and ran forwards, looking over the edge of the building, and she saw her mother and father lying there, shot by Raiders. Her mother looked up at her, with blood tears running down her face, and when she opened her mouth to speak, an unholy scream came bursting from her lips.

She stood up, covering her ears, and she found herself in a room full of sleeping people. A security guard rushed forward.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" The guard asked. It was not Ace, it was not the rookie.

"Yeah… yeah… I'm fine. Just a nightmare," she said, and lay back down. She wrapped her scarf tight around her and soon drifted back into a dreamless sleep.

"Lucy," a raspy voice called out. Lucy looked up, and saw Gob standing in the doorway.

"Oh Gob, hey," She said, looking back down.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, looking around the barren room.

"I'm just thinking," She said slowly. Gob sat on the floor beside her.

"I know how you feel," Gob said. "He saved me twice."

"Oh Gob," she cried. "I hate this."

"It's okay," Gob said, startled.

"How?" She sniffled. The tears still flowed freely down her face.

"He saved lots of people," Gob said.

"Why did it have to be him, though? Why couldn't someone else have tried to be the hero?" She sobbed, looking up at Gob.

"He risked it all, for no personal gain. There aren't many people who would do that," Gob said. "I don't think anyone else would have tried."

"Why did the Enclave want him so bad?" Lucy whispered.

"I have no clue," Gob said. "I don't know if it was lucky at all that he went into the station first. I've been wondering for a long time now how different things would be if I had gone in first, and the Enclave grabbed him."

"He seems to leave an impression everywhere he goes," Lucy said.

"It's going to be weird without him here," Gob whispered.

"Don't talk like that!" Lucy shouted, standing up.

"I've accepted it, Lucy, maybe you should too," Gob said softly, looking up at her. Lucy stared at him furiously, her mouth forming words with no sound. After several seconds of this, Lucy stormed out of the room wiping her eyes.

"She just needs to acknowledge it's too late," Gob whispered to himself, and slowly left the room.


	18. Dead Heroes and Old Leaderships

The weeks passed slowly, and the station was slowly being transformed into a community. Everything was getting cleaned; there were now several beds everywhere. The station itself was huge and could easily have fit several thousand people.

"Lucy, what are you doing here?" James asked one morning, looking up to find Lucy standing in the room.

"I… wanted to talk about Aiden…" Lucy said, collapsing into a chair. James stopped everything he was doing and just stared off into space.

"I'm sorry… you don't have to…" Lucy said, seeing the look of pain on James face.

"It's okay… You look sick Lucy. Have you been sleeping?" James asked, examining her face. Lucy shook her head.

"Have you been taking the medicine?" James asked, examining Lucy's medical file on his computer. Again, Lucy shook her head.

"Why not?" James asked. "It's for your own good."

"I know… it's just… I don't want to dream of him," Lucy said, looking down at the floor.

"You need sleep," James said, thinking hard. "I have no solution to changing dreams."

"I know… I just thought maybe talking about him would help me…" Lucy said, looking up with tears in her eyes. "And no one would know him like you."

"Okay, Lucy, what is it you want to know?" James said wearily.

"What was his childhood like?" Lucy asked. She had been wondering for a long time.

"Rough," James sighed. "He was bullied constantly by a gang known as The Tunnel Snakes. There were three of them, and they picked on him at a young age. I remember he came home once with one eye swollen shut, and missing several teeth. This was about when he was eight. I asked him what had happened, and he told me that he was a hero. I was confused, but he didn't tell me anymore. The next day, I found out what he meant when his childhood friend Amata came by. She told me the whole story. The gang had been bullying her and Aiden jumped to her defence, giving her time to leave."

"What happened then?" Lucy asked, completely interested.

"Apparently, they beat the living pulp out of him. Amata told me it's not the only time he's helped her. One day, several months later, all three Tunnel Snakes visited me in the hospital with broken bones and bruises all over their bodies; I asked them what happened but they remained quiet. Amata came in later and told me the whole story. Again, they were bullying her, but Aiden was the one who handed out the beatings this time. Ever since then, I have had periodic visits to my clinic by both my son and the Tunnel Snakes, though at completely different times."

"Wow, how did he beat all three of them?" She asked, on the edge of her seat.

"He told me that he was receiving training from Old Man Wong, who was the fiercest fighter in the entire Vault, and he trained with him up until his seventeenth birthday when Wong died," James said.

"So, he trained for nine years?" Lucy asked. "And he always played the heroics?"

"Yeah, ever since he was little he had to be the hero," James chuckled.

"Wow… so he was a good kid?" Lucy asked.

"Essentially yes… he had his flaws like everyone," James sighed, thinking back.

"What would you say his flaws are?" Lucy asked.

"He… got into my supply of Med-X when he was thirteen. I didn't know until he was eighteen, I never could figure out where they were going. He promised me he had quit but… he never did. I tried locking them in the medicinal cabinet. I don't know how, but he learned how to pick locks extremely well, and didn't hesitate to do it," James sighed again.

"Oh…" she breathed. She never imagined it would be something like that.

"Yeah… if that is all, I'd like to get back to my research," He said politely, but dismissively, and Lucy felt she shouldn't press her luck.

"Thanks, doc," she said and left the room. Contrary to what she had hoped, she didn't feel better about the whole situation. She felt, if at all possible, worse. She now knew what Aiden was like as a kid, and she felt even more attached.

"Why is this so hard? Why can't I just give up like everyone else?" She sighed to herself.

"You love him," a smooth voice rang out. Lucy whipped around, scared. She saw Vance leaning against a wall.

"Vance…" she whispered.

"You are troubled, might I ease your soul?" Vance asked.

"Um… sure…" Lucy replied, uncertain, alarmed, and worried.

"Follow me," He said, and led her down the hall. They passed the lab where James was, the sleeping quarters, and they kept going past the armoury, security centre, and guard post. They travelled right out into the Wastes. The sun was low, setting the sky on fire in a palette of beautiful colours.

"What are we--" Lucy began, but Vance raised a hand and silenced her.

"Just watch it," He whispered. The sun kept getting lower and lower until the night took over.

"How is this supposed to make me feel better?" Lucy asked, clearly confused.

"The sun lit up our entire day, but now it has left in a beautiful way, leaving nothing but darkness in its wake. Tomorrow, the sun will arrive in another beautiful fashion and will return light to our lives," Vance said, inhaling deeply. "What does that tell you?"

"That… he lit up my world but now he is giving me nothing but darkness… but there'll always be something to brighten my life again… so I should look for it?" She asked slowly, thinking hard.

"The message is yours to interpret," Vance smiled, and entered the station again. "Do not stay out too long, these are dangerous times."

Lucy stood outside for a while yet, feeling the wind blow past her. She looked around the Wasteland, broken, destroyed, but still something of beauty.

"Leave it to Vance to make everything simpler and more complicated at the same time," she sighed and entered the base again.

Another month passed, and Lucy, with daily visits from Vance, found herself thinking less and less about Aiden every day. She was sleeping again, and she was happier. One day, she awoke, and she didn't think of Aiden at all.

"Hey Luce," one of the prisoners from the Enclave base called out.

"Hey Rick," she said, turning around.

"I don't… er… want to be inconsiderate or anything about your whole uh… situation but… I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go see that play… that the kids are putting on… today… with me…" Rick muttered uncomfortably, each word becoming progressively quieter until Lucy had to lean in so she could hear him. She looked at the young man with his flaming red hair and brown eyes.

"Sure, Rick," she smiled, and took his hand.

"Who is that?" one of the security guards whispered to another.

"I don't know, should we stop him?" the second guard replied, looking at the black and red armoured man as he descended the stairs.

"That's our job isn't it?" The first one asked.

"Yeah, I guess it is," the second one replied.

"Stop!" The first one yelled.

"Ya stop!" The second yelled out. They both had their handguns pointed at the man.

"I'm in a bit of a rush here, could you tell me where Vance is?" the man's voice was distorted.

"What's your business with him?" The first guard asked.

"Ya!" The second one shouted.

"I can handle this," the first one said to the second one.

"I was merely getting our point across," The second one replied.

"I can handle this guy… Where did he go?" The first one asked, looking over at where the man was standing.

"Uh-oh we are in trouble," the second one said, worriedly.

Bishop walked down the hallway, and removed his helmet.

"Fucking idiots," he muttered. He turned a corner and walked straight into Harkness, knocking him over.

"Watch it," Harkness growled, looking up.

"Sorry, where is Vance?" Bishop asked.

"Hell if I know, he usually shows up when someone needs him," Harkness muttered, rounding the corner. Right on cue, Vance exited the door in front of Bishop.

"How did it go?" Vance asked.

"You already know," Bishop said.

"How many?" Vance smiled.

"They're sending two paladins and four initiates," Bishop said.

"That's four more than I thought they would send," Vance nodded. "Come, we have much to discuss."

"No, we don't," Bishop said.

"Pardon me?" Vance said, turning around.

"We have nothing to discuss, you, in your self righteousness, will order me around. You ever stop to think that maybe you're not always right?" Bishop said staring into Vance's eyes.

"The thought has crossed my mind, but I have no time to dwell on such trivial matters. I am responsible for thousands of lives," Vance said, staring right back into Bishop's.

"No you aren't, you might be responsible for your 'family' but down here, we are all the same. We don't need leadership, we need strength, unity, and truth, not all your bullshit," Bishop said taking a step towards him.

"They all have the truth," Vance whispered.

"Is that right? So you've told them that Aiden is recovering, or were you planning on making him a martyr," Bishop shouted. "I don't like how you told him there was no chance he was going to make it. You made him reckless!"

"You're angry," Vance said. "It's understandable, but you must know that what I do, I do for the good of the many."

"You are a sheep in wolf's clothing, Vance," Bishop growled. "Aiden would be a much better leader. At least with him we wouldn't have to deal with your constant shit!"

"I see," Vance hissed; turning on his heel, he stormed down the hall. Bishop ran his hand through his hair, thinking hard.

"I know what I have to do," he muttered, and rushed off to the medical clinic.

She looked around the room, with knees drawn up to her chin. Ace was gone, and so was the man who had arrived with Bishop. She hadn't had time to visit him again after that day…

"No Ace, no Mr. Sad, and no sign of the hooded man," she sighed. "The three people I would give anything to talk to right now, and they disappeared."

There was a sudden commotion on the balcony above them, and she saw Bishop running at two guards. The guards hesitated as to if they should shoot or not, and that mistake cost them. Bishop smashed their heads together and they dropped unconscious.

"Can I get everyone's attention?" Bishop shouted. All eyes in the station looked up at him.

"What is he doing?" Harkness muttered somewhere near her.

"You have all been lied to! Vance may have saved you, but he is no saint! He has kept you all in the dark, lied to you, misled you. We are fighting an enemy that we cannot defeat with him in charge. I am not saying we will never win; we will only win with a change in leadership. Someone who will not lie to you, someone you can trust. Someone like… Aiden!" He shouted this name particularly loud, and the crowd began to whisper excitedly. How could a dead man lead them?

Aiden stumbled to the balcony and looked down at all the faces looking up at him. He felt so sick, so weak. It was a living hell just shuffling his feet.

"Where am I Bishop…" he murmured.

"You are at the Meresti Station, now designated as New Hope," Bishop whispered. "Vance has been keeping you sedated."

"Vance… what…?" Aiden whispered, looking over at Bishop, his vision swimming before him.

"Yeah, for two months now," Bishop whispered. "He told everyone you died, and kept you hidden in the back of the medical clinic."

"Oh," Aiden whispered, and collapsed.

_I feel so weak… why am I not dead…please just kill me…_

"This is the man who risked his life to save someone he never even knew, someone he barely knew, and someone he loved! He has been kept hidden from you in hopes that his death could be used as a rallying point against the Enclave!" Bishop shouted, pounding his fist on the railing. "He was to be executed by our own side! Him, a hero!"

The crowd began to boo, and shout. Bishop helped Aiden to his feet.

"How are you feeling?" Bishop asked. Aiden opened his mouth to talk, but just threw up instead. The crowd all groaned at seeing this.

"Sick, yes, but Vance has made him so. Aiden has not been awake for two months, he is so weak, and he is near death." Bishop addressed the crowd. "This man, my friend, a hero, deserves better than this." The crowd shouted their support. Bishop opened his mouth to speak, but Aiden held up a hand to silence him. The whole crowd fell into silence as he turned to address them.

"Hi," Aiden managed to shout, before he felt sick again. He doubled over, and the crowd remained silent.

"Vance… is not perfect… Vance… was only trying to help… he has helped many… but he made one wrong choice… we can not hate him…" He managed to choke out. The crowd shouted out to him.

"Full of mercy!"

"A gentle heart!"

"There is no one better!"

"That scallywag Vance had no right to keep someone so pure down!"

"No!" Aiden shouted out again. "You're not listening… What Vance did… he did for you… don't look at me as a hero or some sort of saint… I don't hate Vance and neither should you…" The crowd remained hushed.

"It's been nice… holding this conversation with you…" Aiden called out weakly, and passed out.


	19. Pink Ribbon Wrists

Aiden awoke several days later, feeling a lot stronger than he had days ago. He pushed himself up and looked around the room.

_Must be the clinic. I spend a lot of time in these places._

"Hey, super trooper," a female voice called out. Aiden looked over.

"Blue-eyes, it's been a while," Aiden said groggily, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. She didn't reply, she just smiled, staring into his face.

"Something on my face?" Aiden asked after several seconds.

"I have to say I do not count myself lucky," she said finally.

"What?" Confusion.

"Well, I do believe several months ago, you told me I was lucky that I have never seen your face, but looking at it right now," she said, shutting one eye and holding her fingers up like a photo frame, "I have to say I was quite unlucky."

"Ha ha," he said sarcastically. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to be the first to see you awake, so go me!" She squealed excitedly, jumping up and down. Aiden couldn't help himself; he started laughing.

"I've got skills, I can bring out Mr. Happy easily," she smiled, cocking her head to the side.

"You're a strange one," Aiden said, smiling.

"I'd be offended, but it's impossible to be mad when your smile is that gorgeous," she said with a wink, and ran out of the room. Aiden just shook his head in disbelief. Blue-eyes appeared at the door a moment later and poked her head in.

"It's Rayisa, I saw your face, and you know my name. It's a done deal," she said in a singsong voice, and disappeared around the door again.

"Rayisa… well that's one less thing to worry about," Aiden breathed, lying back down. A second voice startled him again.

"Sleeps for three days and he still needs to lie down," Bishop said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, yeah, funny. What do you want?" Aiden asked, though he let a small smile form across his lips.

"You have a speech to make," Bishop said, in a falsely polite voice. "The people _demand_ it."

"What people?" Aiden asked.

"The one's who want you to lead them, seriously man, are you going to need me to hold your hand?" Bishop muttered, shaking his head again.

"Oh," Aiden said. "Vance isn't in charge anymore."

"Nah he's… agreed… to remain on as an advisor," Bishop said slowly.

"What did you do to him?" Aiden asked, chuckling amusedly.

"Me? Nothing?" Bishop said, raising both his hands as if to prove they're clean. "I'm innocent."

"Sure, let's just go," he said, removing himself from the bed.

"You know, I saved you, I think I should be the boss now," Bishop said, following him out.

"You had your chance," Aiden said.

"Yeah…" Bishop let out a long fake sigh.

"Oh come on, you're going to make me feel bad. You know we're friends," Aiden laughed.

"You seem happy," Bishop said, examining him. "You have an almost arrogant air about you. Did you finally get laid?"

"You have all the sensitivity of a rusty spoon," Aiden said, shaking his head.

"Here we are," Bishop said, stopping Aiden at the balcony. Aiden looked out over the crowd, they had not noticed him yet.

"They all want to hear me?" Aiden asked, bewilderedly.

"Well most of them, not him, him, him, him, and she, in the back there, hates your guts," Bishop said, pointing at random people in the crowd. "Other than that, we're golden."

"You're an asshole," Aiden grinned.

"It's Aiden!" Someone in the crowd yelled, and they all began to cheer.

"Marry me!" Someone yelled, and the crowd began to laugh. Aiden raised one eyebrow as if to say what the fuck. Bishop just shrugged and laughed.

"Just go with it," he smiled.

"Uh, hi. Again. I heard from, uh, my friend here that you -- er -- all wanted me to… lead you," The crowd cheered again when he said this.

"Do they not realize what's going on out there?" Aiden whispered to Bishop.

"Come on, man, they love you," Bishop said.

"Why?" Aiden asked.

"Eh, I might have told some stories that may or may not have been true," Bishop shrugged. "But what are you gonna do?"

"Isn't that why you wanted Vance out? Because he was a liar?" Aiden asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Nope, I wanted him out because he was an _insufferable_ liar, who constantly ordered everyone around and thought nothing of the fact that he might be wrong. He kept everyone in the dark," Bishop said. "You won't do this, I know, because I'll tear your head off."

"Ouch," Aiden cringed, feeling his neck.

"Hey stop sharing secrets!" The same guy from before yelled, inciting more laughs.

"Okay, I don't know what my friend here told you, but I guess all I can say is that… I'll die before I let any of you come to harm," Aiden addressed the crowd, which went wild at these words.

"You're the fucking man!"

"We love you Aiden!"

"Seriously man, marry me!"

"What the hell did you tell these people?" Aiden asked in disbelief.

"What's it matter, you have the love of the people, and a famous man once said, 'The people should not be afraid of the government, the government should be afraid of the people.' And right now man, you are the government and they love you," Bishop said, patting him on the back.

"If you have anything at all on your mind, I would like you to tell my chief advisor here," Aiden shouted out, pointing at Bishop. The crowd clapped and cheered even louder.

"Bye now," Aiden shouted awkwardly after several seconds. The crowd began talking amongst themselves, and Aiden and Bishop walked away.

"Where's Lucy?" Aiden asked, his heart pounding furiously in his chest.

"Er…" Bishop said, looking away.

"What? Let me guess, _she died,_" Aiden said rolling his eyes. "You pulled this one already, remember?"

"No… she's uh… seeing someone else," Bishop said, very uncomfortably.

"What?" Aiden said, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Yeah... She thought you were dead, ya know?" Bishop said.

"But… it's only been like… two months…" Aiden said, his heart tearing.

"Are you going to be okay?" Bishop asked, looking at his friend worriedly. Aiden said nothing; he just pushed his back to a wall and let himself slide down.

_Someone else. I risked everything to save her…God Damnit…_

"Hey," Bishop said, crouching beside him. "You're a leader now, people look up to you. You can't do this."

"What if I don't want to be the leader? What if I don't want to stay here? I can barely handle one person relying on me, you think I can handle thousands?" Aiden shouted, glaring at his friend.

"You are the leader, you are going to stay here, and they rely on not only you, they all rely on each other, on every member of the council. I can understand you're upset about Lucy, but damnit Aiden, you can't let her get you down. Stiff upper lip, ya know?" Bishop said calmly. "Look, boss, I'm your bodyguard, your friend, I'm here to help you with the pressure. Harkness, Danvers, and all them, they're here to help too."

"Why can't one of them just lead? Why can't you be the leader?" Aiden asked, cradling his head in his hands.

"Oh, we can. But we won't. I talked it over with everybody already. We all agreed you're the best candidate for the job, because we know that you will care about every single one of them, and ultimately, in the end, that's the best trait we could ask for in a leader. Someone who won't take unnecessary risks that put the safety of his people at risk," Bishop said, standing up.

"But…" Aiden started, but Bishop just shook his head and silenced him.

"No buts. We're all in this together," Bishop said. "There's a council meeting in the security office in twenty minutes, I want to see you there, or I'm going to find you." With that, Bishop walked off, leaving Aiden with his thoughts.

_I can't do this. I need to get out of here. Go somewhere, anywhere._

He stood up, and hastily made his way toward the exit. He checked around every corner, and constantly looked behind him, to make sure Bishop wasn't following him. After twenty minutes of this, he finally cleared the exit into the evening light.

"Running away, eh?" A voice behind him said. Aiden whipped around and saw Jericho leaning against a wall.

"What's it to you?" Aiden asked, staring at him. _How did I not see him?_

"You run, I kill you," Jericho said, looking up into Aiden's eyes. His eyes were cold and grey, and made Aiden shiver.

"You'd kill me?" Aiden asked, trying not to let his eyes scare him.

"In a heartbeat, I would track you down and I would kill you," Jericho said, getting up from the wall. "I wouldn't even blink. I've done terrible things to good people, and it doesn't even phase me anymore. I won't let you endanger everybody in there with your cowardice." Aiden could see he was twirling a combat knife in his hand.

"What makes you think I wouldn't kill you?" Aiden asked, now focusing his attention on the knife in Jericho's hand.

"Who's to say you wouldn't?" Jericho shrugged. "That's a chance I'm willing to take. Are you?" He was now approaching Aiden menacingly.

"Okay, Jericho, kill me then. Do it," Aiden said, taking a step toward him. Jericho pushed him against the wall around the entrance, and placed the edge of the blade against his throat.

"Don't tempt me kid, I'm trying to reform and I don't want to go back to my old ways because of some snivelling little bitch," He growled, his face incredibly close to Aiden's. His dead eyes bore into Aiden's, and Aiden found it impossible to turn away from them. They were like two fathomless depths. Aiden's heart was beating insanely fast, threatening to escape his chest. The two stared at each other for several long seconds, both breathing heavily.

"I knew you would try to run," a voice chuckled, and Aiden turned to see Bishop standing there.

"You told Jericho to wait out here?" Aiden asked, angry.

"No, Jericho just happened to be out here," Bishop shrugged. "Come on, both of you, we have a council meeting."

"This psycho is on the council?" Aiden asked in disbelief.

"Yes, no one knows the Wastes like him, he's our man in charge of anything relating to the Wastes," Bishop said. "Jericho let go of him and let's get going." Jericho released Aiden with a growl and stalked off inside.

"Cheery man," Aiden said, rubbing the front of his throat.

"Let's go," Bishop nudged his head toward the entrance, and Aiden walked in.

In several minutes, Aiden found himself sitting at the head of three long tables pushed together. There were familiar faces and faces he didn't recognize, and they were all looking at him expectantly.

"Er… hi." Aiden said.

"Harkness, give us a security report," Bishop said.

"Not many crimes to report, people are still settling down I guess. There have been a few isolated incidents, but those were dealt with," Harkness said, looking down at his folder.

"Dealt with? Like killed," Aiden asked.

"Yes, they were killed," Harkness said exasperatedly. "It's for the safety of everyone else." Everyone in the council all looked at each other, disbelieving that they had agreed to make this kid their leader. Aiden saw this.

_Jesus, I didn't want to be leader. You all have way more experience than me, why didn't one of you just try to be leader._

"Somethi?g wrong?" Bishop leaned in and asked him. Aiden just shook his head.

"Okay," Bishop said, standing up. "We're all settled in, so I think we should start looking at our offensive options." The council all straightened up, like this was the moment they were waiting for.

"It's up to our leader, of course, but I have several plans here I would like to discuss with you," Bishop said, opening his folder.

"First and foremost, we need to start training a combat force. Some members of the Brotherhood will be here soon to help us with that. Secondly, we need to start scouting out where exactly the Enclave is, so we're not caught by surprise. Last, we need to start looking for a way to remove them for good. There is no way we are going to win a head on war with them, and there's no chance we'll stay hidden forever. We need to do something soon or I fear it'll be too late," Bishop said, walking around the security office. All eyes were on him.

"Jericho, Lucas, I think you two should be in charge of the scouting portion. Harkness, Danvers, I want you two to remain on keeping the peace around here. I will help the Brotherhood in assembling a combat force. The rest of you, I need you to look after the well being of the place, the cleanliness, the supplies, and all that fun stuff. What do you think of that, Aiden?" Bishop asked, stopping at his chair and sitting down again.

"Uh, sounds good," He said.

"It's agreed then, if there are no other concerns, I think this council meeting should be over," Bishop said. Everyone else murmured his or her consent.

"When's the next meeting?" An older gentleman at the end of the table asked. Everyone turned to Aiden.

"Er, same time next week?" Aiden suggested uncertainly. The council cleared out of the room in a matter of seconds, and it was just Aiden and Bishop who remained.

"Why don't you just be leader?" Aiden sighed.

"Because I lack the emotional capacity to care what happens to people," Bishop said, leaning back in his chair.

"What? You're always helping me," Aiden said, surprised by what he said.

"Yeah, you're my friend, friends help friends. Beyond that, I don't really care. Chalk it up to all my years of killing people," Bishop said calmly, shrugging. He got up, and left the room as well, leaving Aiden alone again.

"From looking for my dad to leading a city… how do I get myself into this…" he sighed. He lay his head down on the table and shut his eyes.

_I never thought that I would find myself wishing to wake up in the Vault. It would be a blessing to find myself back there, where the only thing I had to worry about was Amata. Amata… Lucy… I can't believe that you found someone else._

Aiden sighed deeply, and got up from the table. He found himself walking down hallways with no immediate destination.

"Troubled?" That familiar voice rang out, like a gunshot on a silent night.

"Vance." Aiden said, without turning around.

"I fear I may have played a part in Lucy finding someone else," Vance said, circling in front of Aiden.

"What?" Aiden said through gritted teeth, his hands clenching into fists.

"Yes, she was quite upset about you, and I showed her the sunset, and helped her see she would be better off not waiting for a dead man," Vance said, with a smile.

"You bastard," Aiden whispered, his nails digging into the palms of his skin.

"If you are to win this war, you can have no emotional attachment," Vance said, circling Aiden like a shark.

"You made the girl I love find someone else… for a ridiculous notion like that…" Aiden said, struggling to keep his voice calm, despite the fact that his body was trembling with rage.

"You'll thank me someday," Vance smiled and disappeared down a hallway. Aiden stormed after him, grinding his teeth.

"Vance, where are you?!" He shouted. Several people turned to look at him.

"He left," one of them said. "Just now."

"Agh!" Aiden cried out in rage, slamming his fist into the wall. The people around him jumped back.

_That was a fucking stupid idea, now my fist hurts._ He stood, rubbing his hand.

"Thank you, for telling me that," Aiden muttered awkwardly, and stormed off in the opposite direction. He didn't remember how many turns he took, or how long he had been walking, but he finally stopped in front of a door. Something compelled him to go in. In the middle of the room, Rayisa sat on a dusty old table. Her hair, which was bubble gum pink, was done up in a ponytail, and Aiden smiled despite his anger.

"Hey, super trooper," she said, looking up to see who it was.

"Blue-eyes. How did you know it was me?" Aiden asked, taking a seat beside her.

"Er, you were standing in the room?" She said, getting a silly grin on her face.

"No, how did you figure out I was 'super trooper'," he asked, laughing. Rayisa smiled, and rolled up Aiden's sleeve, grabbing his forearm and turning it so that the skull tattoo faced up.

"I saw it when you were passed out in the medical clinic," she smiled. Her hand remained on his arm, and Aiden could feel his pulse quicken.

"How did you get your hair that colour?" Aiden asked, attempting to sound casual despite the fact his heart was sending messages in morse code.

"It's an old family secret, I can make it any colour I want," she said. "Do you like it?" Aiden smiled, and looked down at her hand, to think for a moment, and the sleeve to her shirt had rolled down a little.

"What's that?" Aiden asked suddenly, grabbing her wrist and turning it up, showing several nasty scars painted across her arm; one of them was still bleeding. He felt his heart stop, and he looked up into her face. Tears had formed in her eyes.

"I have to go," she said, wiping her eyes on the back of her sleeve and hastily pulling her arm away. She ran out of the room before Aiden even had a chance to get up.

"What the hell…" Aiden whispered to himself slowly. He sat in the dusty room alone for several minutes, thinking to himself.

_I never would have guessed. She always seem so happy and bubbly… I wish I could stop her from doing that, but what can I do? She has a reason, and if she won't tell me then I'm screwed. Maybe I should talk to Dad… He hasn't seen me in a while anyway._

"Hey Dad," he said, when he had reached the lab.

"Aiden," James smiled, looking up. "Found time to visit your dad, eh?"

"Yeah, I missed you dad," Aiden said, sitting down in a chair beside him. "Why did you leave?"

"I owed it to your mother to finish something we started a long time ago," James sighed, rubbing his eyes wearily.

"Oh…" Aiden said, whenever the topic of his mother arose he always felt uncomfortable.

"Do you… er… want to talk about your mother, son?" James asked.

"No," Aiden shook his head. He knew nothing of his mother, and he wasn't about to start.

"I see…" James exhaled deeply. "So, you're doing well for yourself. Leading thousands of people."

"I'm hardly a leader, dad, I have people making my decisions for me. Everyone is taking care of everything, I don't do a thing," Aiden said, resting his head on his hand. If he was leader, he felt he should at least be making decisions.

"You let them do it, Aiden," James said. "You always did live in your own world. All you have to do is take charge."

"I guess," Aiden said. "I just hate feeling responsible for so many people."

"You'll grow used to it, Aiden. It just takes time," James said, looking at his son. "What else is troubling you?"

"I… know someone who is hurting herself, and I don't know what I can do to stop it. I want to help her but I'm scared that she won't let me." Aiden said in one breath. He took a breath when he had finished, and looked at his dad, who was silent for several seconds, staring into space.

"I don't know what to tell you, son. All you can do is show her you're there, and have faith that she will let you help her," He said finally, weighing each word before he spoke it.

"Okay, thanks dad," Aiden said, making a start for the exit.

"Aiden?" His dad called out to him.

"Yeah?" He replied, turning around at the door.

"Visit me again soon," His dad smiled wearily.

"I will, don't worry," and with that, he left the room.


	20. A Ghost In The Machine

"This is it," Ghost whispered. Farsight and Stitch nodded their heads. Ghost signaled for them to go left and he silently sprinted to the right, coming to rest behind a rock. Peeking cautiously around the side of the rock, he saw Farsight taking position in the barren branches of a tree and he could see Stitch pressed against the wall beside the door.

Ghost signaled and Stitch cautiously opened the door. There was a gunshot and Stitch lay sprawled on his back, a puddle of red where his chest used to be.

"He's in there," Ghost whispered into his radio.

"I can't see him… wait!" Farsight shouted as a second gunshot rang out and she came crashing out of the tree, lying in a broken heap at the base of it.

Ghost silently crept to the right, pressing his back against the trunk of another tree.

"1..2..3.." Ghost counted slowly, trying to slow his heart down. He couldn't be excitable or he'd be next. He had to think this through tactically. He shouldered his MP5 and carefully crept up to the house. He placed his back firm against the wall and looked left, then right. He saw a window several yards down and he quickly formulated a plan. He picked up a large sized rock, stepped several feet back. He threw the rock as hard as he could, and he saw the entire window shatter.

Ghost quickly entered through the front door, hearing the metal footsteps fading down the hallway. He silently followed the echo until he reached a room with the door wide open. The echo's had resided into this room, and he saw the Red-Armored man looking out the window. He slid the safety off his gun and open fired into the man's back. The clip slid out of his gun as a cold metal object pressed against his temple. He sighed, and his world turned black as a deafening crack filled the room.

"They did good…" The voice sounded impressed as well as concerned.

"But they didn't get me," The second voice sounded bored.

"I couldn't get you if my life depended on it," The first voice sounded bemused.

"It probably would," The second voice said, with a hint of humor.

"Ha ha," The first voice sarcastically said. "Come on, I see one of them are coming back to us."

Ghost slowly pushed himself to a sitting position. His temple was killing him. His eyes focused and he saw a doctor in front of him, writing on a clip board. After various tests, the doctor turned to the man whom the first voice belonged to.

"He's fine son, but was a shot to the head really necessary?" The doctor sounded quite fatherly.

"Ask Bish, dad," The man shook his head. The second man chuckled.

"Ah Bishop, what would we do without you?" The doctor smiled weakly and walked over to Stitch, who was trying to shake sense back into his head.

"Are they awake?" A third man entered the room.

"Two so far, Harkness," The first man said, and they all turned toward Ghost, who looked each of them in the eye.

"Jonathan Vincent, aka Ghost. Nineteen years of age. Recruitment type: Volunteer. Was a member of an unnamed merc company. Came to New Hope with the rest of Rivet City." Harkness read aloud from a dossier. "Exceptionally good at stealth ('not good enough' the second man chuckled.) Used to leading. Mediocre shot."

"Are you okay?" The first man asked.

"Yes sir," Ghost said, sitting up straight.

"Relax, the test is over," The first man chuckled. "And no more sir shit, just call me Aiden."

"I'm sorry, sir, I just can't do that," Ghost slid himself off the bed.

"I'm just like you, Ghost, I'm no better than any of you. I'm your equal first, then I'm your leader," Aiden said.

"Bullshit, sir. When the bullets start flying I'll be one of the first jumping in front of the one aimed for you," Ghost chuckled dryly. "So what do you say, sir? Are the lads and I in?"

"Bish?" Aiden asked, turning to Bishop.

"Sure," Bishop shrugged. "Harkness, get him and the _lads_ their standard equipment." The trio exited the room.

"Oi, Doc, how're me mates looking?" Ghost asked, walking toward the beds.

"Stitch is doing just fine, but Farsight broke a couple bones falling out of that tree," James sighed. "Sometimes, I think Bishop enjoys these exercises a little too much."

"He was just doing his job. It's our fault, we weren't good enough," Ghost shook his head. "If that was real… I won't let me mates down again, no matter the operation, no matter the target."

"I let you down as much as you let me down," Stitch said, getting out of the bed. He stretched his limbs, the paralyzer always made him feel so damn slow afterwards.

"I think you should two should probably go and let Farsight rest," James suggested, standing by the lightswitch.

"Sorry doc, Farsight's me mate and until she's up and running, I'm not going anywhere," Ghost said, pulling leaning back in a chair. Stitch sat up on a counter.

"Yeah, James, you go, we'll be fine," Stitch said.

"I see there's no arguing with you two," James smiled, and left the room.

"How you feeling Sight?" Ghost asked.

"Never better, you?" She smiled.

"That makes two of us," Ghost laughed. "So we're in, Harkness came and everything. We're the only recruits he's done that for."

"That calls for a celebration then, doesn't it?" Stitch smiled, and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

"Stitch, you tricky bastard!" Ghost shouted joyously. "Where'd you pilfer that then?"

"Placed it in here before our test, figured we could use a little fun afterwards," Stitch poured out three shot glasses.

"To the bloodied heads we leave in our wake," Ghost smiled, lifting his glass high in the air. The trio downed their drinks, and quickly poured another.

"So, after three weeks of these recruiting exercises, how are we doing?" One of the older board members asked, peering at Aiden over his thin framed glasses.

"Bishop?' Aiden asked, turning to the brute of a man.

"We've had many failures, but a handful of success," Bishop said. "Twenty plus recruits that are entirely ready for war if we were to march right now."

"Is it true some actually reached you?" A female member asked, impressed.

"Yes, the three latest ones, took out the security bunker silently, the brotherhood with a great deal of effort and no losses, and one actually breached my perimeter," Bishop said a great smile on his face.

"They have a damned good sniper," one of the Brotherhood Paladins, Rexel, growled from the corner.

"Yes, Farsight really lives up to her name," The Brotherhood Initiate, Samson, nodded his head.

"Maybe we do stand a chance against the Enclave," The eldest board member, wheezed across the table.

"We've always stood a chance," Aiden said. "Not a big one, but we always had a chance."

"We have a plan to raise our odds though," Bishop said, laying a map out on the table. The board members all leaned in with hushed breaths.

"There are several outposts and settlements," Aiden said pointing to several spots on the map, "which we believe might help us in the fight against the Enclave."

"Aiden, you can't leave. You have people to look after," One of the board members sighed.

"It's not us this time," Bishop said. "We're going to send a squad of recruits."

"Is that smart? They don't have experience," The thin framed man asked.

"The three latest ones do, and I plan on using that experience to our advantage. I will remain here and train more recruits, and Aiden will remain to guide New Hope," Bishop said, rolling the map back up. The board members all murmured their agreement to this plan.

"Same time next week?" Aiden asked.

"Same time next week," the board members all said, and left the room.

"Come on Bishop, just let me go. I can't stand being cooped up in this place," Aiden sighed.

"Your time will come Aiden," Bishop slapped him on the back. "For now, trust me."

"Sounds risky," Aiden chuckled.

"Nah, I got a plan." With that Bishop exited the room, and Aiden sat at the head of the table.

_Fuck this job. I hate this shit. I didn't ask to be leader. I should just leave. Leave and never come back. I miss the Vault. I understand what the Overseer went through now._

Aiden's thoughts were cut short by a sudden voice emanating from the speakers of his Pip-boy.

"Aiden? It's Amata, if you can hear this, I need you to come back. The vault needs you, please help," Amata's tearful voice brought a longing to his heart.

"Amata?" Aiden whispered. The message repeated itself and his heart sank. It was just a recording.

_That's all the sign I need. I'm out of here._

Aiden grabbed his shotgun from his room, and donned his armor. He stepped out into the open air of the Wastes, and took a deep breath.

"I'm coming home," he whispered.


	21. Super Mutants, Raiders, & WomenOh My!

"This is it," Ghost whispered, staring out over the Wastes. Stitch nodded and Farsight stared off into the distance, looking for any signs of danger.

"Oasis is our first stop," Stitch said, looking at the map Bishop had provided them.

"Let's do it then," Ghost said, and the trio began their journey north.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

It had been days, and Aiden felt he was no closer to the vault then he had been when he left. He checked the map on his Pip-boy, there was a burnt out school nearby and day was fast approaching. He decided that moving at night was his only chance with the Enclave patrolling the Wastes.

He approached the school and read the sign, 'The Roosevelt Academy'

"Good enough place as any," He sighed. His body was weary but he felt good. He felt free. He entered the school and instantly felt a chill run through his body.

"Something isn't right here…" He muttered. Aiden found a class room and sat down behind the desk. He opened a large drawer, placed his pack in there, and then laid his shotgun on the desk. He breathed a huge sigh of relief and rubbed his aching shoulders, looking cautiously around the room. On the wall above the chalk board, a poster proudly proclaimed its message, "Shoot for the moon, because even if you miss you'll land among the stars. Aiden chuckled to himself.

A blood curdling scream filled the halls of the building as the front door to the building slammed open. Aiden quickly opened the class door a crack and saw a pair of large yellow-green men dragging an unarmed woman by her arms.

"Let me go! Oh my god! Please let me go!" She sobbed. The man holding her left arm twisted it, and Aiden could hear the bone snap. He grimaced as the women's screaming amplified ten fold, as the man continued to drag her by that arm.

Aiden took a sharp breath of air, and grabbed his shotgun off the desk. He opened the door the rest of the way and crept out into the hallway. The men were halfway up the stairs when Aiden made his move. Running out from behind a pillar, he cleared the distance in two seconds, and fired a round right into the first man's chest, sending him toppling through the worn wooden railing. He turned to shoot the second one but received a devastating blow to the chest from a sledgehammer, lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the pillar behind.

The wind was sucked out of him and he strained his neck looking up. His armor was massively dented, crushing his chest and he found his breathing getting increasingly more difficult.

_Fuck… I should have just run. Why? Why do I have to be a fucking hero? She better at least get the fuck out of here._

"Run… I find you… After I kill pest…" The man grunted, and Aiden could see the woman running to something just out of sight.

"You'll have to get in line," A distorted voice called out, and a laser burst melted the man's face. A red armored man crouched down in front of Aiden.

"Pathetic," The distorted voice said. He unclasped the armor around Aiden's torso, allowing air to invade his lungs again. It tasted so sweet.

"Behind… you…" Aiden gurgled out. Bishop turned around just in time to block a punch from the man Aiden had shot. The man and Bishop began trading punches before Bishop grabbed the man by the throat and tossed him a couple feet. Bishop's distorted breathing was coming out fast and hard. He was getting tired, and that throw took it out of him. The man got up with a plank of wood and smashed it over Bishop's helmet knocking him over.

Aiden let out a grunt of pain and pushed himself off the pillar. He used the momentum to jump up and wrap his arms around the neck of the man. The man reached up and grabbed Aiden, trying to wrench him off his back. Bishop pushed himself up fast, and with the added velocity of that, slammed his fist right into the man's wound, prompting him to double over in pain. Aiden slid off the man's back and put one hand on the ground, gasping for air. Bishop walked over to his laser rifle and picked it up.

Before he could even turn around, the man had slammed a sledgehammer into Bishop's back. When he hit the floor, another hit landed in the middle of his chest, breaking the sledgehammer. The man grabbed Bishop's helmet and started slamming his face into the floor. Aiden cried out in pain and ran over to help. He picked up the head of the sledgehammer and threw it down into the man's head. It knocked him off Bishop and let Aiden pick up the head again. He ran over to the man again, but a hand grabbed his leg and he was swept off his feet. The man got up and grabbed Aiden by the throat, lifting him up. He squeezed until Aiden cried out, and then sent him flying through the air. He skidded across the floor several feet before coming to a halt just short of the entrance. Aiden rolled over and coughed up a massive amount of blood, as the man walked over to him.

A bright flash tore through the man's chest, melting the flesh around the exit and entry wound. He dropped to his knees and his eyes rolled in the back of his head, he was dead. Aiden looked up and saw the woman with a laser pistol pointed directly at the man. There was fear in her eyes and she was trembling. Her left arm was limp by her body. He could see Bishop stirring, and he felt a flood of fear fill his chest again. Bishop had found him.

/

A bullet slammed the wall by his head and he jumped to the floor.

"Sight, can you see this tosser?" Ghost shouted into his radio.

"Got him," Sight's soft voice called back. A gunshot rang out and a gurgling sound came from the Raider, who flipped over the railing and crashed to the floor.

"Stitch, status report," Ghost called into his radio. He stood up and sprayed a raider through the window with his MP5.

"I'm coming up through cellar, Ghost, give me a fucking minute," his radio squawked, he could hear gun shots in the background noise.

"Bleeding raiders," Ghost shouted. Another gunshot rang out and a second raider fell off the balcony.

"Thanks, love," Ghost called out into his radio.

"No problem, babe," Stitch answered with a chuckle.

"Sod off, mate," Ghost replied. He sprinted up the set of stairs and found himself on the second floor of the house. The crying was growing louder and louder, until he reached the end of the hall and kicked the door in. He quickly double tapped the raider in the chest and grabbed the young woman by the arm.

"I got her," Ghost radioed in.

"I see that," Stitch said in the doorway.

"Beautiful, mate," Ghost chuckled.

"A second group of raider's are approaching from the south," Farsight's voice crackled through the radio.

"Alright, mate, that was the warm up round, you ready for the real thing?" Ghost asked, picking up an assault rifle.

"Ghost, we got the girl let's go, we have to reach those settlements," Stitch said, grabbing the girl.

"To the bloodied heads we leave in our wake," Ghost replied, leaving the room.

"Fuck you, man," Stitch shook his head.

"Sight, love, make the first shot after they pass you," Ghost ordered.

"Roger," Farsight's soft voice faded off into silence. A gunshot rang out moments later and Ghost smiled. It was time.


	22. Boiling Point In Two Regards

"I'm not going back," Aiden said, shaking his head and pacing. "I can't do it anymore."

"You don't have a choice in the matter," Bishop growled, he was carefully placing the woman's arm in a splint, having (very painfully) put the bones back in place. The woman was breathing very raggedly over her sobs and there were fresh tear streaks running down her face.

"I'm not going back," Aiden said, in a tone which he hoped was final.

"I'll drag you there myself," Bishop said, holstering his laser pistol the woman had grabbed, and he picked up his laser rifle.

"No one there appreciates what I do," Aiden shouted, letting loose all these feeling he had built up. "If I do something right, big whoop because I have an entire fucking council making decisions with me. If I fail then everyone's right about me being some punk kid. You think I don't hear their whispers? I won't do it anymore, Bishop."

"Do you hear how selfish you're being right now? There are hundreds of people counting on you." Bishop crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"So what? How the fuck can I run a city if I can't even keep my own shit straight? That place is killing me Bish. So it's either you let me go or you fucking shoot me, because I'm not going back." Aiden said holding his arms straight out beside his person. "Shoot me Bishop. Fucking shoot me."

Bishop un-holstered his laser pistol and pointed it straight at Aiden's heart. Aiden shut his eyes and took one last deep breath of air.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

His friends were all dead, and he had caught a bullet in his stomach. Crawling to a closet, he had taken refuge inside, and was now trembling furiously.

"I didn't even want to be a raider…" The raider sobbed. "I didn't have a choice… I'm only fifteen I'm far too young to die… Cheryl… I need you…"

He could hear footsteps outside the closet and he could hear laughing. Those men were pacing the house and laughing.

"Oi, Stitch, mate, did you see that Raider try to hide behind the couch?" The first voice, a heavily accented one, laughed.

"No I must have missed it," The second voice sounded less joyous than the first. "Can we please go now? We have a mission."

The young raider heard crackling and a third softer, sweeter voice rang out.

"One of the raiders is still alive. Be careful." The voice ended in another crackle.

"Alive, eh? Trying to ambush us you bloody rat?" The first man shouted. "Show me your face, coward."

"Oh god… Oh god… They're going to find me…" He tried to slow his breathing down.

"Stitch check upstairs," The first voice ordered. "I'll check… wait a minute"

The first voice started walking slowly toward the closet.

"Oi Stitch, blood trail leading to this closet, mate. The rat is hurt," The man shouted.

The raider's heart stopped. It was over. A second set of footsteps came to a rest outside of the closet. The young raider counted every second he had left, basking in every glorious moment, when the closet door swung open violently and a heavily tattooed man stood there staring down at him. The man grabbed him by his hair and tossed him out into the middle of the room.

"Sight, we got him, love. Thanks for the heads up," The tattooed man said into a radio.

"Jesus Christ, how old are you kid?" The second man, Stitch, had asked. He was kind looking, slicked blonde hair, clean shaven, and bags under his eyes.

"Fifteen… Please don't kill me…" The raider raised himself to his knees and put his hands up. The tattooed man kicked him, hard, in the temple, sending him sprawling a couple feet.

"Shut up, mate. You don't get a say here," He shouted, withdrawing a pistol from his holster. The raider started sobbing harder.

"I haven't hurt anybody… please… today was my first mission… We were told to check up on the raid party…" The raider cried.

"What's your name, son?" Stitch asked. The raider just sobbed uncontrollably.

Ghost stormed over to the raider and got so close that the raider could count the individual strands of stubble.

"Me mate here asked you a fucking question," Ghost brought the butt of the pistol down hard. The raider just laid there now, silent tears running down his face.

"It's Michael…" He whispered softly.

"Well, Michael, I'm getting a bit of a psychic transmission here," Ghost chuckled, placing his free hand up to his temple and taking several steps back. "It's saying you're gonna be seeing your mates again soon." He clicked the safety off his pistol and pointed it straight between Michael's eyes.

"Ghost, stop it! The kid's not a threat," Stitch stepped between Ghost and Michael.

"Stitch, mate, I love you but get the fuck out of me way," Ghost ordered.

"No can do, friend," Stitch said, and in half a second he had disarmed Ghost, grabbing the gun and pulling it out of his grasp.

"You bloody idiot," Ghost shouted.

"It's over, Ghost. We won," Stitch shook his head. "Go check on Sight."

Ghost stormed out of the house, cursing, and Michael was left alone with Stitch.

"Let me see that gunshot wound, Michael," Stitch said. Michael obliged and lifted up his shirt.

"It went right through, you're lucky," Stitch said, withdrawing several medical supplies from his pack. He cleaned and dressed the wound, and stood up, admiring his handiwork. "I do pretty well."

"Thank you…" Michael said, half in fear, half in gratitude.

"I'm sorry about my friend, Micheal. He's a good guy, really," Stitch shook his head. "What are you going to do?"

"I can't go back to camp, they'll kill me for sure," Michael whispered, fear gripping his heart.

"Come with us, kid," Stitch said, offering his hand. Michael took it and Stitch hoisted him up.

"What about your friend? I don't think he'll be real keen on that…" Michael asked.

"Let me deal with him," Stitch said and they exited the house.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"You're serious aren't you?" Bishop asked.

"Dead serious," Aiden replied, his eyes still shut tight.

"Shit," Bishop said, lowering his gun. "Where are we off to then?"

"What?" Aiden asked, opening one eye.

"You heard me," Bishop said.

"…I'm going back to my Vault. They need my help," Aiden replied reservedly. "You're really letting me go?"

"I'm coming with you," Bishop said, and he helped the woman to her feet.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Kara, thank you so much, both of you," She sobbed, wrapping her good arm around Bishop.

"It's my idiot friend who deserves the thanks. If he wasn't so easy to track I wouldn't be here," Bishop chuckled. He felt lighter now that he had to abandon his dented power armor, and as such, he felt just a little more free. He could breathe easy again.

"Where are you from?" Aiden asked.

"Tenpenny Tower," She replied. "I was out looking for someone…"

"Who?" Aiden asked.

"My boyfriend… but those freaks killed him…" She replied, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Aiden said uncomfortably. He looked at his Pip-boy map. "Where is Tenpenny Tower?"

"It's a couple mile south of Megaton," Bishop said pointing to a spot on it.

"Well my Vault is right here," Aiden pointed to a spot just to the west of Megaton. "Would you like to come with us Kara? We can take you as far as the Vault."

"That would be nice," Kara smiled through her tears.

"Why are you letting me go, Bish?" Aiden asked as they all left the building. They had had enough of Roosevelt Academy for one lifetime.

"I don't care about New Hope," Bishop shrugged.

"Go figure…" Aiden muttered.


	23. A Mass Of Despair

"We're here…" Aiden whispered. He couldn't believe it. He was back.

_Amata, I'm here…_

"I'll take Kara to Tenpenny Tower and I'll be right back," Bishop said. "It'll be less than a day."

Aiden nodded his head slowly; he couldn't tear his eyes away from the entrance to the cave containing the Vault. Right in there he had spent his miserable life, and only now that he had tasted real hell was he ready to finally go back.

"You okay, boss?" Bishop asked with the slightest hint of concern in his voice.

"Ya… I'll be good," Aiden said, tearing his eyes away to give Bishop the slightest world weary smile.

"Okay, don't do anything reckless," Bishop said, eyeing him up one last time and scoffing. "Seriously, I know you Aiden. Look before you leap."

"Yeah," Aiden said, his gaze returning back to the Vault. Bishop shook his head and began walking away with Kara.

"Bishop!" Aiden yelled.

"What?" Bishop shouted back, several meters away.

"Thanks, for not making me go back," Aiden shouted. Bishop just shook his head and walked away.

_Okay, let's get this started._

Aiden entered the cave, and got a chill down his spine. He was actually here again. The skeletons of the people left outside to die were still there. Aiden got sick to his stomach thinking about them. He pictured stranded, desolate, hopeless people begging for one last chance to live, to continue life, despite all its flaws. He could picture the Overseer's face or atleast what he believed the Overseer two hundred years looked like, and he could picture a sickening almost tyrannical grin on his face.

"Bastard," Aiden muttered, and walked up to the console, and smiled.

_A-M-A-T-A. Bingo._

The alarm blared as the door began its automatic opening cycle, and Aiden caught his first glimpse of the Vault as the door slid open.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"He's coming with us Ghost, and that's final," Stitch said, looking his comrade, his friend, in the face.

"Fair enough," Ghost said, walking over to Michael. He extended his hand in a greeting. "Sorry about our little misunderstanding there, mate. I'm a real charmer when you get to know me."

Micheal cautiously took Ghost's hand, the pain in his temple was still throbbing unbearably, and he was terrified Ghost would lash out again.

"Mikey, this is Farsight," Ghost said, gesturing towards Farsight. "I just call her Sight, because, mate? She's a sight for sore eyes." Farsight gave him a little nod and continued surveying the area.

"She may seem frosty," Ghost continued, "but Stitch and me'd be corpses if not for her. She has a sharp eye, and a damn near photographic memory."

"Ghost…" Farsight groaned quietly.

"Sight? What is it?" Ghost said turning around suddenly.

"Enclave," she replied, pointing to a platoon of armored soldiers marching in their direction.

"Awh for the love of Mary," Ghost sighed. "Move, we have to move now. Go."

"I can't run," Micheal groaned, "I can't even walk."

"Get on my back, Mike," Stich said hurriedly. Mike obliged and climbed on quickly, with great pain and difficulty.

"Ghost…" Farsight whimpered in a voice that was absolutely terrified.

"Sight! What? What is it?" Ghost asked, now extremely worried. He had never heard that voice before.

"Verti-Bird," She pointed to a dot flying over the horizon, and it was closing in on them fast.

"For the love of Lucas' beard," Ghost cursed. "Do they know where we fucking are?"

"It looks that way," Stitch said solemnly.

"Fuckin' Christ," Ghost cursed again. "Get back in the house. We don't stand a chance out here."

Inside the house, the group gathered all the weapons and supplies they could in the middle of the living room.

"Ah, shite," Ghost shook his head. "We're fucked."

"It looks that way," Stitch nodded his head.

"How are you all so calm? We're going to die? Does that not scare you?" Michael asked, his eyes wide in fear.

"Mikey-boy, we been dead a long fucking time," Ghost said. "You don't do what we do and expect to feel alive."

"What do you mean?" He asked. "You're all alive. You can all still feel."

"Stick around, lad, and you'll begin to understand," Ghost sighed. "Sight, love, take a window upstairs, and get ready to make the first shot." Farsight silently ascended the stairs, as graceful as a ballerina.

"Stitch, you me and the kid," he jerked his thumb at Michael. "We start making it as hard as fucking possible for them to get in here. Tables over windows, chairs under doors, scrunch up the fucking door mat to trip them; I don't give a shit, just do it."

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The blood stains were everywhere.

"Jesus Christ," Aiden gagged. "What the hell happened here?"

There was silence all around him, save for the pitter patter of sprinting feet in the distance. He followed the sound until he could hear screaming too. A woman's screams, ascending from the reactor room. He sprinted in that direction; the Vault's layout may as well have been plastered in front of him. He knew every nook, every cranny of this place.

"Where is he?" Aiden could now hear voices.

"I don't know," a woman was sobbing.

"Maybe she needs a little convincing," A gruff voice said. Aiden heard the sobbing and begging get louder.

"Keep it in your pants, Anderson. We're here under order from the President. He'll show. He'll come save this worthless bitch. We'll kill him, and then you can do whatever the fuck you want to her."

"Roger, sir," The gruff voice laughed maliciously.

"He's coming… I know he is…" The voice sobbed… It was Amata. Aiden's heart sank. She lured him into a trap. Aiden slumped against the wall, and let himself slide down. He had been used. No one appreciated him.

"Bastards… everyone…" Aiden muttered, shaking with rage.

"Aiden…?" A weak voice called out from the shadow.

"Who's there?" Aiden growled, pointing his shotgun at the disturbance. He saw a broken, bruised, and bloody Butch crawling out of the corner, leaving a pool of blood behind him.

"Butch?" Aiden's jaw dropped, horrified. He scrambled over to him, and cradled him in his arms. "What happened Butch/"

"Tunnel snakes… resisted… Wally… Paul… They're dead man… fucking dead… they were tortured… Wally… he cried man… he cried and begged… fuck man…" Butch sobbed, blood dripping out of his mouth.

"Butch, hang in there, I'm not letting you die," Aiden said, tears forming in his eyes. He gave Butch a quick once-over. It wasn't looking good.

"No… not me… It's Amata…I'm worried about…" Butch said, shakily pointing his finger down the last flight of stairs. "Get her man… save her…"

"She lured me into a trap," Aiden said angrily.

"You don't know man… the things they did… they fucking skinned my mom… her screams man… I still fucking hear them…" Butch's eyes unfocused, clearly remembering a more unpleasant time. "You saved her… from the roaches… despite the security force's pursuit… she was so grateful… she was different… she gave up drinking… she was… fuck man… she was doing so good… and they fucking skinned her… I can still see her eyes… the way they still screamed the pain at me…even when she was dead…"

"Those fucking animals…" Aiden said, a tear splashing on the floor.

"They… hooked the Overseer up to this machine… made Amata send that transmission out… she did… and they still activated it… his rib cage fucking… tore open… you could see his heart… and lungs… and shit… and the damndest thing… he was still alive… he didn't even scream… I think that's even scarier…" Butch shuddered. "He just stared at the wall in front of him… for a good two minutes before… he finally died…"

"Stay here," Aiden said, laying Butch gently down. "This ends now."

"You got thirty more minutes, bitch. If he doesn't show up then I am going to go check on the other prisoners and Anderson here will be left alone to guard you," The second voice said. Aiden could practically hear Anderson licking his lips.

Seconds later, Aiden crept in the room, and, in a moment of unbridled speed, he had twisted Anderson's arm behind his back so hard, that it had broke, and stabbed his switchblade so hard into the neck of the second guard that it was now stuck in bone.

"You son of a bitch," Aiden growled, releasing his arm. He grabbed a handful of hair and brought his knee into Anderson's face. Anderson slumped on the floor, unconscious. After several seconds, Amata run forward and wrapped her arms around so hard, that he feared his ribs may crack.

"I'm…so… sorry… Aiden…" She managed to choke out between sobs. Aiden embraced her tightly.

"It's okay, Amata," he whispered. "I'm here now; I promised I'd always protect you… I'm here. We need to move though. There are more prisoners, and I'm worried about Butch."

"Butch tried to save me…" she moaned.

"I knew he had it in him," Aiden said.

"No… you hated him Aiden," Amata chuckled.

"With every fibre of my being, but that doesn't matter. We need to save who we can and get the fuck out of here, my friend is near. He can help us, come on!" Aiden grabbed Amata's hand and bolted up the stairs to Butch.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

"They passed us," Farsight called down the stairs.

"The fuck?" Ghost sighed, clearly confused.

"Where could they be going?" Michael asked.

"Wait… that's the direction of…" Stitch started, and all three shouted at the same time, "New Hope!"

"Will they be okay?" Farsight whispered, having joined the group downstairs.

"They have the Brotherhood, they'll be fine," Ghost shook his head. "And the only way in is guarded 24/7."

"I hope you're right," She whimpered.

"Bishop is there," Ghost said assuredly. "I don't think I'll ever hear of anyone beating him."

"He is something else," Stitch said.

"How does he fight like that?" Farsight asked. "He's untouchable."

"I don't rightly give a shit," Ghost interjected angrily. "We'll obtain nothing by idolizing the bloody ground he treads on."

"Ghost is right," Stitch said, "We need to focus."

"Oasis," Farsight nodded.

"How much farther?" Ghost asked.

"Two days," Stitch said.

"Right, well, to the bloodied heads we leave in our wake, eh lads?" Ghost said, unscrewing a bottle of whiskey. He took a generous swig, and passed it around.

"Now that we've wet our whistles, satiated our blood thirsts, and… saved… that girl…" Ghost trailed off at the end. "Oh shit!"

Ghost sprinted up the stairs and pounded on the door at the end of the hallway.

"Oi, love, it's safe you can come out," Ghost shouted through the door.

The young blonde opened the door slowly, looked around, and only seeing Ghost, exited the room.

"Thank you," she whispered…

"No problem, miss," Ghost gave a small bow. "Might we escort you?" He offered his arm to her and she grabbed it and Ghost led her downstairs.

"Ah, Ghost, not this shit again," Stitch sighed…

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The whole tower was burning.

"Mom! Dad!" Kara shrieked, watching the tower burn, still some distance away.

"The hell…" Bishop muttered to himself. "Come on, Kara."

The duo sprinted the rest of the way to the tower, and upon arrival, Kara collapsed in a heap, struggling to breathe. Bishop barely seemed affected.

"Back up," A security officer came out, pointing his gun at them. "State your business."

"Out of my way," Bishop growled, shoving the guard aside. He studied the area for a second before exclaiming, "Ghouls!"

"Ghouls…?" Kara asked in disbelief.

"Someone let them in," The security guard shook his head. "I'm the only one to get out."

"Who? Who would let them in?" Bishop asked.

"It was some drifter. A long trench coat, neatly trimmed hair. He had a way with words, talked us into letting him in, then he let them in," The security guard shook his head.

_It can't be. Not… Vance._


	24. The Demons Inside

The door crumbled weakly under the weight of Bishop's boot, and he quickly un-holstered his laser pistol.

"Kara, wait out here," he motioned to her, and sprinted inside. "VANCE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"Bishop," Vance's voice called out from the floor above, looking down on Bishop. "So funny to run into each other here."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Bishop shouted, shooting two ghouls who turned their attention to them.

"You and Aiden have no idea what it takes to save a world, and now this tower will be your grave," Vance chuckled. "I've been watching you two, I knew you would come here. Little Bishop, still so predictable after all this time."

"You've spit your last lie," Bishop growled and sprinted toward the stairs, taking them three at a time. Any ghoul to get in his way was quickly dismembered and disposed of. Bishop's heart pounded hard in his ears.

"Fuck you, Vance.. Fuck you.." He cursed between breaths, thundering down hall ways, through doors, and up yet more flights of stairs, following the cackle of Vance's laughter. He reached the top floor and burst through the door, fuming, but he was immediately grabbed and restrained by three sets of arms. Vance walked in the room from the balcony, a smile of victory on his face.

"I've got you now, Bishop," Vance paced slowly in front of him. "I always knew I would be better than you someday."

"Fuck you, you fucking animal," Bishop spat. "I will destroy you and everything you love. I swear it."

"You still hold that grudge after all this time?" Vance shook his head. "Pathetic. To think that after all these years your heart still belongs to that whore."

"You shut your mouth!" Bishop lurched forward, unbalancing the guards, but not quite able to pull free. "I threw away my life for you! My life with the Brotherhood.. With her.. You were my friend, you bastard!"

"You think Sarah still cares about you Bishop? It was years ago, so many years ago. Indeed she was probably sickened to see you come ask for help. She wishes to be rid of you no doubt, you annoying wretch, and now I will grant her this pleasure."

"You lie!" Bishop shouted, but his eyes filled with tears, and his heart exploded in his chest, lighting on fire all other organs around it. He let out a roar so terrifying that he felt the grip on him loosen and he took his chance. Pulling hard with his right arm, he sent his first captor sprawling across the room while jabbing his thumb back hard, engorging it deep in the eye of the man behind him. The third guard let out a whelp of fear and let go entirely, stumbling back. He gripped tightly the neck of this man, snapping it easily, and tossing the lifeless corpse into the man stumbling blindly around the room.

Vance made a run for the balcony, but Bishop was too quick. He grabbed him by collar of his coat and threw him to the ground hard. He brought his face in close to Vance's, practically eye to eye.

"You take it back," He growled, his voice rumbling low like a wild animal.

"Never," Vance spat in Bishop's face. "You thought you were so cool. Little Bishop, the eye of Sarah Lyon, no wonder you got so far in the Brotherhood. No talent Bishop, just pretty boy Bishop. I was sick of it." Bishop wiped the spit off his face and pulled Vance's head up for a moment.

"I threw my life away for _you_, not Sarah, not the Brotherhood, for you, Vance," Bishop looked into Vance's eyes for a moment, as if searching for an answer he had needed for a very long time. He slammed Vance's head to the floor with such power that it shattered the very cobblestone tile beneath it, leaving a huge cranium shaped hole in the floor. Vance spat up blood.

"The fire, it was all on purpose wasn't it Vance?" Bishop's voice faltered, tears sprang to his eyes. "Wasn't it?

"Yes it was, it was so easy to play off your trust. Little Bishop, so scared when he first came to the academy, looking to be accepted. I took you under my wing," Vance laughed. "You'd be nothing without me Bishop."

"I'm nothing because of you," Bishop said, his voice now hollow, as hollow as his chest. "Get up, we're going for a walk." He dragged Vance to the balcony, where, much as he had expected, the rest of Vance's Family waited, Holly included. He tossed Vance into the crowd, who quickly caught him.

"You won't kill us Bishop, you—" His voice was cut short by the sound of Bishop quickly removing his pistol and firing into the crowd, the screams and blood of every member flying out around him. It was over as fast as it started, and Vance trembled terribly looking at the carnage around him.

"Vance," Holly whispered, grabbing her husband's hand.

"Shh Holly," Vance embraced his wife, holding her head to his chest. "Kill me, but please.. leave Holly alone.. you've already murdered the rest of my family."

"That's cute," Bishop chuckled, and drove a boot hard into Vance's face, toppling him over. He grabbed Holly by the hair and dragged her over to the railing, where he drove her face sharply into it. Several teeth flew out, along with what looked like a litre of blood. Vance screamed, and Bishop did it again and again until Holly's face quickly resembled nothing more than a mass of swollen and broken flesh. Satisfied, he threw her over the railing.

"You.. you monster.." Vance cried.

"Yeah well, I learned from the best, remember? You took me under your wing," Bishop laughed spitefully, grabbing Vance by the hair.

"You will soon know what I feel," Vance whispered, "Even as we speak the Enclave goes to destroy the pitiful brotherhood, along with your precious Sarah. New Hope will burn, too."

"You're.. unbelievable, Vance," Bishop softly whispered. He punched him hard in the face, leaving him unconscious, and he took him down a few floors, to where the ghouls resided. Lifting Vance upright against a wall, he drove a knife into each of this monster's hands, pinning them there. The pain awoke Vance, and he screamed like a banshee.

"Good, your cries will have alerted your little friends. I just wish I could be here to watch them rip you limb from limb," Bishop shook his head one last time. "This is our final goodbye, old friend. I wish you the worst."

/

"The cell's are over here, Aiden," Amata led the way, with Aiden shoulder supporting Butch. "You need to be careful though, they're booby-trapped."

"No pressure, hey" Aiden muttered. They turned a final corner and reached the cells, where a handful of Residents are all that remained.

"He came, you guys, he's here to save us," Amata smiled weakly. The prisoners all gathered around the cell doors, their faces alight with hope. Aiden's heart warmed slightly, as he saw these old faces and knew they were glad to see them.

"Hold on, guys, I'll have you out in a second here.." Aiden murmured, hacking into the security terminal, and true to his word, the door opened shortly after. He was soon swarmed by the group, each hugging him, crying, thanking him.

"It's over now," Aiden whispered to each of them in turn. Christine Kendall gave him a kiss, holding it for a couple seconds longer than he would have liked.

"Thank you, Aiden… Thank you so much…" She looked deep into his eyes, he looked away.

"They only left two guards?" Aiden asked.

"The rest left for a place called New Hope.." Butch muttered weakly. "I overheard them.. Thank god.."

…_no… not New Hope.. they couldn't know where it is.. how could they.._

"Aiden…?" Amata looked at him worriedly. "You look sick. Are you alright…?"

"New Hope, Butch?" Aiden looked at him, eyes wide with fear. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, man.. I heard them talking to some guy with a trenchcoat.. the smooth scumbag type.. you know? He told them where to go…" Butch breathed heavily, slumped up against a wall. "You know the place..?"

"Sorry, I need to go," Aiden shouted and sprinted for the exit, everyone calling him back, throwing questions at him. He reached the exit before he knew it, and, as he activated the terminal, a voice rang out over the Vault's PA system, and out of his Pip-boy, auto-tuned to the Vault frequency.

"Aiden," Amata's quivering voice rang throughout the room. "Aiden please stop. Talk to us, don't leave us like this. We're your old friends.. You can't just leave us again. Please, Aiden, come back.."

"Amata.." Aiden whispered, covering his eyes with his hand in frustration. Footsteps were echoing in the halls behind him, and he knew several must've given chase to him.

"Aiden," It was Mr. Brotch who had reached him first. "You don't need to tell us what's going on, you don't need to explain. Just please, take us from this Vault. We've seen too many loved one's die here, we can't stay. Please."

"You're better off here, Brotch. You don't know what's out there," Aiden turned to look at his former teacher.

"You don't know what we went through in here. We're willing to take this chance. We're not useless, we know how to fight, we are not afraid." Brotch looked at him seriously.

"..Okay. Grab what weapons and armor you can and meet me here. You've got five minutes and I'm gone," Aiden said, checking the time on his Pip-boy.

"We only need two," Brotch smiled, and ran off with the rest of the residents. What felt like forever, but according to his watch was only three minutes, brought everyone before him. Ten of the fifteen remaining residents had Vault armour and the Vault issued 10mm pistol. The other five, Butch, Amata, Christine, Susie Mack, and a little girl Aiden had never seen before stood behind.

"Okay.. Let's go," Aiden whispered, looking at the fifteen assembled here. He didn't want to know how many the Enclave had tortured and killed. He never wanted to know. As he turned to leave the Vault, he felt a hand slip into his and he turned to see who it was. His eyes had to look down a little to see the nameless girl staring up at him with big eyes.

"What's your name, sweetheart…" Aiden kneeled down to talk to her.

"It's Hope," she smiled up at him innocently. "Thank you Mr. Aiden."

"No problem, Hope," Aiden smiled back at her. "Here, get on my shoulders, we'll move faster that way." With Aiden in front, and the ten armed guards in the back, the group left the Vault, Christine and Susie supporting Butch's weight between them.

"Your eyes will adjust," Aiden said. "Follow me as close as you can, we don't have time to stop."

_Bishop.. Forgive me.. You're on your own.. If I am as easy to find as you say then you'll have no problem finding me plus fifteen.._

The group walked on for several hours, commenting on the Waste around them, and asking Aiden ridiculously stupid questions that made him laugh.

"Was I this ignorant when I left the Vault?" He wondered aloud to himself, before laughing again.

"Hey, Hope, sweetie, why don't you go check on Butch for me?" Amata asked. "Here go with Mr. Brotch!" Mr. Brotch lifted Hope off of Aiden's shoulder and he gave him a small smile of thanks.

"What is it, Amata?" Aiden asked her.

"I just.. missed you, Aiden.." Amata said, looking at the floor.

"Ah.. I see.. Well the Funnel Cakes didn't give you too much trouble without me there, eh?" Aiden asked, looking into the distance.

"No, actually.. After what you did for his mom, Butch vowed to be everything you were. They quit their little gang until the Enclave showed up... and then… well.. Wally and Paul.." Tears began to run down Amata's face.

"Yeah Butch told me," Aiden interjected quickly. Amata looked up at him, her eyes seem slightly magnified by her tears.

"Aiden.." Amata whimpered. "Don't leave me again.."

"Shut up!" Aiden shouted suddenly, taking Amata off guard. "Get down on the floor everyone! NOW!" Aiden crouched low and ran as fast as he could to a large rock just ahead of him. He pushed his stomach low to the rock and slowly crawled up the gentle sloping fashion of it; at the top, he peered over and cursed silently under his breath. He slid down the side of the rock and rushed back to the group.

"There's a raiding party not 300m from us," he whispered, fear in his eyes. "These guys are fucking brutal and they're armed to the teeth."

_Silver and John Bishop.. It seems so long ago.._

"How many?" Brotch asked.

"A good 8-10 of them, at least three have assault rifles, the rest will have anything from baseball bats to flamethrowers," Aiden said, thinking hard.

"Okay, Officer Mack," Brock gestured to the man on the right. "You and I will sneak around one side and let the rest get into position on the right side. Aiden, when you give the signal, Officer Mack and I will open fire, distracting them for a brief moment, while the rest of you ambush them with their backs turned, they'll never see it coming. How does that sound?"

"Uh.. that sounds great Mr. Brotch.." Aiden whispered, stunned to silence.

"I'm not your teacher anymore, call me Edwin," He said. "Maybe that'll help you believe I'm not just some nerd who teaches the future generation."

"Uh.. right.. you two," Aiden pointed to two guards, "Guard these five with your lives."

"Yes, sir," Both guards whispered.

"Mack, let's go," Brotch whispered, and very stealthily crept out of sight.

"My daughters in there," Officer Mack said, looking at the two chosen guards. "Don't fuck it up."

"You can count on us, sir," the first guard said. Mack smiled and followed Brotch to the ambush point.

"Okay, you six, get behind that trailer over there," Aiden pointed to an overturned mobile home. "I'll be on top of the rock. Clear?"

The six guards nodded, and carefully, but not quite as smoothly as Mack and Brotch, crept to the trailer while Aiden positioned himself on the rock he originally scouted the raiders from. From up here, he could see that the raider's weapons were down, that they were just helping themselves to some supper.

_Perfect.. This is for you Silver.. Bishop.._

Aiden raised his and swiftly brought it through the air, and almost immediately after a hail of gunfire opened up. Two raiders were dead before the rest even knew what was going on. They grabbed their guns and returned fire, and that's when the volley behind them opened up, ripping through 3 more raiders.

"Shit!" He could hear one yell. "Where the hell did these guys come from!"

Aiden aimed his shotgun carefully at the one who seemed to be the leader and pulled the trigger, plastering him to the canyon floor.

"They're above too! Fuck!" One of the last two were shouting, and moments later, the gun shots were silent. The guards all waited, watching for movement, while Aiden went around kicking bodies, ensuring they were done.

"They're dead," Aiden sighed a breath of relief. "Grab what supplies you can, food and medical supplies are a priority. Try to upgrade your arsenal if you can." He looked down and saw a 9mm pistol, which he picked up. It felt nice in his hand, had a good weight to it, so he decided to keep it. He raided what little ammo he could off of the fallen bastard.

When night fell, the group took shelter in an abandoned house, which was in extremely good condition considering the circumstances. It had several bed rooms, which was nice, because then the girls got their own room. It wasn't a big deal to Aiden, but girl's were weird like that.

"You're in a Wasteland where everything is out to kill you and they're worried about sharing rooms with a guy," Aiden chuckled to Butch, who was sprawled out on a couch across from him.

"Until yesterday, they each had their own room in a sheltered Vault," Butch groaned. "They haven't been out here as long as you."

"Yeah, you're right," Aiden said. "I keep forgetting. It's getting late, try to get some sleep, eh?"

"You got it, chief," and like that Butch was out, Aiden just shook his head and went up to the room he shared with Brotch. Brotch was on guard duty all night so he had it to himself.

_Brotch isn't too bad of a guy_

He entered his room and sat down on his bed. He caught movement in the corner of the room and called out.

"Whose there?" He reached for his pistol.

"It's just me," Amata shut the door slowly and locked it.

"Uh what? What are you doing in here? Why aren't you in bed?" Aiden asked her.

"I just wanted to talk to you.." Amata sat down on the bed beside Aiden.

"Okay.. That's alright. It's good to see you again, Amata," Aiden said.

"Really?" Amata smiled at him. "I thought you had forgotten us."

"I could never forget you guys.. I spent 19 years in that Vault, remember?" Aiden chuckled.

"A day didn't go by that I wasn't thinking of you, Aiden." Amata whispered. "Do you remember the kiss we shared in the supply closet?"

"Yeah.." Aiden said slowly. Amata grabbed his hand and softly placed it on her inner thigh. Aiden's hand tightened slightly. She placed her hand on his cheek.

"I love you, Aiden.." She whispered. Aiden swallowed nervously. He thought of Rayisa, or atleast he tried, but his thoughts felt clouded, his body seemed to be doing all the thinking. She gazed deeply into his eyes, and he leaned in and kissed her, and his body lit up in a fiery passion. She pushed him down onto the bed and crawled slowly up to kiss him.

"I've wanted this for a long time," She whispered to him.

"Me too," he whispered back.

/

"That's Oasis, in the distance there," Stitch said, warming his hands over an open camp fire.

"About damn time," Ghost muttered. He took another swig from the bottle of whiskey and passed it across to Stitch, who held it in his hands and stared at it for a few brief moments.

"You know, Jonny," Stitch said, "We need to talk."

"Shut up, mate, don't ever call me that name," Ghost clenched his fist.

"No, Jonny, I'm tired of this. I'm tired of you running away from what happened," Stitch said looking up at his friend. "Melody, you, and I are the only ones left of our town. We're all that we have."

"What's your fucking point? I take care of Sight," Ghost growled.

"Shut up, you're going to wake her up. And you don't take care of her, I do," Stitch stared across at him. "You wonder why she never talks to you? She can't, neither of us know who you are anymore, Jon."

"Shut the fuck up, Stitch!" Ghost stood up, his eyes flashing.

"Or what? Are you going to kill me Jon? Do it," Stitch stood up slowly, looking directly into Ghost's eyes, unblinking. Ghost quickly withdrew his sidearm, pointing it one handed across the fire, directly at Stitch's heart.

"Don't fucking tempt me, mate! There's nothing to talk about! I'm not running from anything," Ghost flicked the safety off his gun. Stitch took a slow drink from the whiskey bottle.

"It breaks her heart, seeing you like this," He said, holding out the bottle to Ghost.

"Just toss it over here," Ghost held up his other hand, and caught it.

"What are you so scared of?" Stitch asked him.

"I ain't scared of shit," He spat, and took several big swigs of whiskey.

"Look at you, man, you're a ghost of your former self," Stitch shook his head. "You can't even function without alcohol."

"You shut the hell up! You don't know," Ghost said. "You don't know!"

"What's going on out here?" Sight said softly, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Melody, get inside please," Stitch said. "You don't want to see this."

"There's nothing to fucking see here!" Ghost shouted, draining the rest of the bottle and smashing it on the ground.

"Ghost…" Sight whispered.

"Sight, love, get outta my sight," Ghost glared at her. She crept back into the camper.

"You don't need to talk to her like that," Stitch shook his head. "She's concerned about you. She would do anything for you, Ghost, and you're too fucking blind or stupid to see that."

"Careful, Stitch, you better pick your next words very carefully. _VERY CAREFULLY_," Ghost's voice was dripping with venom.

"Shoot me then Jonny boy, your parents would be fucking proud," Stitch said, knowing very well these were the words that would push Ghost over the edge.

"Fuck you, mate," Ghost said, and squeezed the trigger. Two loud gunshots rang out and they both hit the dirt floor hard.

"Stitch.." Sight whispered, her rifle smoking in her hand. She ran over to his side, and slowly turned him onto his back.

"I'm okay, it went through," Stitch groaned, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What's going on out here?" Michael asked, emerging from the camper.

"Mikey, I need you to grab my first aid kit, okay?" Stitch said.

"O-okay," Michael said, and quickly re-appeared with the kit, handing it to Stitch.

"Where'd you hit him?" Stitch asked Sight.

"I.. I don't know.. I was scared I didn't aim.." She whispered. "I can't believe he shot you.."

"He's getting worse," Stitch sighed. "We shouldn't have let it go on this long. Is he breathing?"

Sight crept slowly over to Ghost, scared, and placed two fingers on his neck.

"He's got a pulse.." She whispered.

"Where'd you get him? And is the bullet still in the wound?" Stitch asked, wincing as he cleaned and dressed his bullet wound.

"It went through his abdomen.. clean shot.." She said, tears welling up in her eyes. "Don't die Ghost, don't die."

"He's tough, he'll pull through," Stitch reassured her.

"Why? What happened to him, David?" She asked, the tears flowing down her cheeks now.

"I don't know, it's something to do with what happened at Duvall," Stitch walked over to Ghost, who was motionless but still alive thankfully.

"It was horrible.." Sight looked down. "It didn't even take an hour.. It was gone.."

"I know, Melody," Stitch said, "You use higher calibre rounds than him. He got the worst of this."

"Don't say that," She whimpered. "He's going to be okay."

"I know what I'm doing," Stitch smiled at her. "Don't worry."

"Will he ever be the same?" She asked him sadly.

"It's highly unlikely, unless he accepts whatever it is that he's running from," Stitch sighed.

"Do you remember when I was fourteen and I had that dance recital?" Sight asked softly.

"And Jon showed up late and there was that huge scene?" Stitch smiled reminiscently.

"Yes, all because he promised he'd be there.." She trailed off softly. "I asked him if he remembered.."

"I'm sorry.." Stitch shook his head. "I miss him too, you know. It's just us 3, that's how it's been these two years. I wish he would realize that and just come back to us."

"Next time shoot me in the fucking head," Ghost growled, "then I won't have to sit here and listen to this bullshit, eh?"

"How long have you been listening?" Sight gasped.

"Long enough," Ghost stood up, throwing Stitch's arm off him. "What happened, happened, it's done. There's nothing to talk about."

"Ghost.." Sight hugged him softly, but he just pushed her to the ground. His wound screamed in agony and he put a hand to it.

"You can both go fuck yourselves," He said, pulling out his sidearm with his free hand and pointed it at them. He backed slowly up until he was a safe distance away, then he turned around and ran off.

"Ghost!" Sight called out, her voice trembling.

"Just let him go, Sight.. we can't save him," Stitch said, a single tear running down his cheek. "Come on, let's get you back to bed. I got these sleeping pills they should help."

"Thank you, David," she smiled through her tears.

"Sleep tight," Stitch whispered to her, kissing her forehead. She smiled and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

/


End file.
